At Celtic Properties Real Estate Alliance we offer a complete property service. Irish & International Negotiations and sales are handled by John O'Neill, BCL, MIAVI and Fiona Tobin, Property Management and letting is handled by Amy Tobin. Patricia O'Sullivan is our office manager. We have a detailed and intimate knowledge of the south west region and enjoy meeting people and making new friends. Should you contact us to discuss your property requirements we can assure you of a friendly professional and confidential service.

Celtic Properties Real Estate Alliance is Licensed and Bonded and is a member firm of the IAVI  (Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute). In 2003 we joined the real estate alliance group.  Real Estate Alliance is an Irish network of locally owned, well established firms. It is a strategic marketing alliance for independent auctioneers around Ireland. The members benefit form being part of a Nationwide Group, while retaining their own particular identity. To date there are 46 offices throughout the country.

 Real Estate Alliance agents realise that they are only successful if you are so we give every client every possible assistance. The group completed more than 15,000 property transactions last year. Real Estate Alliance will put your property in front of thousands of potential buyers from Dublin & Cork to every corner of the country through our network of offices, in local & national   papers and online on various websites, we also offer our sellers the opportunity to avail of our discounted group advertising rates in national newspapers.

As a buyer we will guide you through every step of the process. You'll receive a personnel contact who will meet you, guide you through viewings and every step of the buying process until you receive your keys and beyond with property management, letting etc.

TOPIC OF THE WEEK

What is a BER, (building energy rating)?

Currently the energy performance of a house is not visible and so it can’t be taken into consideration by homebuyers or tenants.  The Building Energy Rating (BER) will provide a clear energy rating for the house thus making the energy performance visible.  For the first time this will allow home buyers to take energy performance and energy costs into consideration in their purchasing decision. 

It is proposed to phase in the commencement of mandatory BER elements in three steps:

Building Energy Rating New Residential – January ’07 (Transitional exemptions will apply to new dwellings for which planning permission is applied on or before 30 June 2006.  These exemptions will end on 30 June 2008.)

Building Energy Rating New Non-Residential – July ’08 (Transitional exemptions will apply to new non-residential buildings for which planning permission is applied on or before 30 June 2008.  These exemptions will end on 30 June 2010.)

Building Energy Rating Existing Residential – January ‘09

A building energy rating gives an objective scale of comparison for the energy demand and performance of a building.  It is rather like the mpg (or l/km) rating for a motorcar or the A to G rating for an electrical appliance.  It will allow prospective buyers or tenants to factor energy performance and costs into their comparison of different properties and into their ultimate decision.

The legal obligation will apply to virtually all buildings that are either newly constructed or otherwise placed on the market for sale or rental.  The main exemption applies to listed buildings of outstanding architectural or historical importance.

The format of the BER has not yet been finalised but it will most likely be similar to the energy label for domestic electrical appliances, which rates the energy performance of the appliance from A to G, and which expresses energy consumption (in kWh) under standard conditions of use .

New homes will most likely be rated off the plans during the design stage by a certified assessor while existing homes will be required to have a building energy rating (BER) carried out by a registered assessor and must provide the BER certificate to prospective buyers/tenants. 

The BER will be based on a survey of the house by a registered assessor.  The assessor will survey the house to record, for example, the size of the house, the construction, the insulation levels, the type of windows, details of the heating and hot water systems, etc.  This information will then be used to calculate the energy performance of the house and to give it an energy rating.  All assessors will be required to follow a standardised procedure using an approved survey and calculation methodology to arrive at a rating.  Along with the BER certificate, the assessor will also provide the homeowner with an Advisory Report setting out options for improving the energy performance of the property (i.e. stating how the energy performance of the house could be improved).

The best indication of the likely cost of such a survey is to look to other European Countries where energy rating of homes has been introduced, for example Denmark and the Netherlands.  The costs are generally in the range of €200 to €500 depending on the size, age, etc. of the house.  Early indications are that the cost in Ireland will be approx. €300 for an existing home and less than this for a new home.

There is no legal penalty for getting a bad label for an existing house.  From the perspective of a seller or landlord, the effect of such a label can be expected to be a degree of market disadvantage in a competitive property market.  From the perspective of a householder, it creates an awareness of the ongoing running costs, comfort level and environmental impact associated with energy use in the property. 

Building Energy Rating will be carried out by registered assessors whose details have been accepted on to the national EPBD administration database. Registered assessors will have successfully completed a training programme that can demonstrate that they have achieved certain learning outcomes.

You are only required to have an energy rating carried out if you are selling or renting your house.  Otherwise there is no requirement to have an energy rating carried out.  (The exact requirements and penalties will be set out in the legislative provisions).  However, it may be of benefit for those in older homes to have an energy rating carried out in order to identify how they could improve the energy performance of the house and thereby reduce their annual energy bills. 

There will be a need to ensure rapid turnaround time on assessments, to prevent any negative impact on the property market.  The Draft Action Plan proposes a turnaround time of less than 2 weeks for production of a BER for residential buildings, from the date of first communication by the vendor, lessor, or agent.  This is an important reason behind the phased introduction of the implementation of the Directive, to ensure that there is an adequate supply of registered assessors to meet the service demand that will arise when each phase is made mandatory. 

Overall, the message in a market context is:  “information is power”.  These provisions in the Directive are about equipping the consumer with information and the consequent power to act in their own best interests.