The magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs points to the “mistakes” of energy performance diagnostics, which are mandatory for any sale or rental of housing.
60 million consumers sound the alarm. In a comparative study on the new energy performance diagnosis (DPE), the magazine notes that there are still too many “errors” and criticizes the “reliability” of the diagnosis system.
As a reminder, the DPE, mandatory for any sale or rental of accommodation, is a diagnosis carried out in France on real estate. This is one of the documents forming part of the technical diagnosis file. Since its reform on July 1, 2021, the period of validity of an DPE is ten years. This diagnosis is intended to be coercive: from the end of August 2022, “the rents of housing classified F or G, in other words those considered as ‘thermal sieves’, can no longer be increased”, notes the magazine, which specifies that these housing “will also not be able to be sold without an energy audit from September 1, 2022.”
And it’s not over: from 2025, G-rated accommodation can no longer, in principle, be rented. The same goes for those rated F, this time from 2028. We therefore understand the issue around this energy rating.
“Forgotten doors or windows…”
Using a comparator, 60 million consumers point out the too great differences in diagnoses for one and the same house. “For the same house, the five diagnosticians do not lead to the same result! There are always at least two different letters, and sometimes three for the energy labels which go from A to G”, writes journalist Fanny Guibert. The magazine points out the recurring errors of the diagnosticians: “error of surface, doors or windows forgotten, insulation badly taken into account, heating and production of hot water badly evaluated…”
Since the reform in 2021, the energy diagnosis is however “opposable”, which means that it can be used in a legal action. Previously, it only had informative value. From now on, if a buyer or a tenant considers that the accommodation he occupies has been classified too well, he is able to turn once morest his landlord to obtain compensation. In turn, “the owner will be able to turn once morest the diagnostician”, explains 60 Million consumers.
According to the latest Observatory of real estate morale carried out by OpinionWay for SeLoger, only 30% of sellers know the DPE of their accommodation. However, 81% of buyers claim to pay particular attention to it before scheduling a visit.