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Passivhaus in St Albans for sale


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I always liked St. Albans, used to meet my Indian lover Suzi in the grounds of the cathedral, which had a catholic chapel in it.

 

The house though.

Got a GRP flat roof, but apart from that, it is horrible.

 

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I'm fairly sure it's a certified Passivhaus, I know the architect and build team and it's what they were aiming for. It's one of a small development of three.

I can't see it on https://passivehouse-database.org/ yet - certainly would make sense from a sales PoV to have it listed and details included in the advert.

 

Price in this area is largely defined by distance to nearest mainline train station and quality of the local schools. The guide price is in line with the going rate, so on the low side of what it will raise if a PH motivated buyer turns up.

 

EDIT: bit more pre-build info here   https://www.adpractice.co.uk/st-albans-passive-houses 

Edited by joth
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I wonder if there was two similar homes side by side One Passive The other not Could they ask a premium for the passive house We had about 20 couples around ours Nearly all doctors Only only one asked about the EPC and bills Two computer bods 

Though they did offer us 100 k below the asking price 😂

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9 minutes ago, nod said:

Could they ask a premium for the passive house

Of course they can ask... Real question is would it be successful.

It obviously depends a lot on the area and demographic of potential buyers. In 2021 a local estate agent said ours could achieve up to 25% premium for the "right buyer", which apparently wasn't unicorn hunting, at least he claimed he'd already had people walking in off the street asking for a passivehaus. That was 3 years ago. 

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1 minute ago, joth said:

That was 3 years ago

When interest rates were very low.

15 minutes ago, nod said:

Though they did offer us 100 k below the asking price

Yes, not stupid then.

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1 minute ago, SteamyTea said:

When interest rates were very low.

Yes, not stupid then.

Pretty stupid As we had already had two asking price offers 

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3 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

When interest rates were very low

Yes this is a good point, when money gets more expensive, "green" features are likely to be the first thing to get dropped 

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5 minutes ago, joth said:

Of course they can ask... Real question is would it be successful.

It obviously depends a lot on the area and demographic of potential buyers. In 2021 a local estate agent said ours could achieve up to 25% premium for the "right buyer", which apparently wasn't unicorn hunting, at least he claimed he'd already had people walking in off the street asking for a passivehaus. That was 3 years ago. 

Our first build is by no means passive But far better than most new builds 

Sealed with in an inch of its life 

70 mil insulated plasterboard on all exterior walls 

Bit disappointed that hardly any where interested 

Location

m2 

privacy 

Bed-Baths-kitchen 

 

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This is the EPC for the above property, just curious how you get a rating of 120?

Look like panel heaters on a wall in the kitchen and landing.

 

 

EPC.png

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10 minutes ago, ProDave said:

A lot of solar PV.  In simple terms it generates more power than it consumes.

Thanks Dave, I did spot lots of panels on both roofs. You can simply add more panels to increase the rating.

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13 hours ago, joth said:

The guide price is in line with the going rate, so on the low side of what it will raise if a PH motivated buyer turns up.

We sold ours during the pandemic and we had several people bidding against each other for it and it sold for a lot more than the asking price. The buyers were all interested because it was a PH.

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The house is new and there are already green streaks below the solar panels, wonder what is causing that. 

 

If it is that bad when the house is new I wonder what that will look like in 20 years.

 

Personally I would never buy a house with solar panels on the roof. They can lead to too many problems down the line, especially with the wet and windy climate we have in the UK. I would also never buy a house with any flat flat roofing which this one also has.

 

All the old houses in the background have appropriate pitched roofs for the climate. The modern trend of installing flat roofs in this country is strange, people didn't do it in the past for good reason. 

 

225227_FAF230006_IMG_22_0000.jpeg

Edited by MBT6
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I agree on the solar panels mainly because I know of two house fires caused by them one of which was a new house. They are also ugly imo.
 

Flat roofs are fine if done correctly using modern materials and then maintained. It wasn’t done ‘in the old days’ so much because the lack of suitable roofing materials. Materials science has come a long way over the last few decades. 
 

What that house is starting to show is everything I don’t like about wood cladding. 

Edited by Kelvin
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17 minutes ago, MBT6 said:

people didn't do it in the past for good reason. 

Maybe because we have very poor quality control in the building industry.

It is also populated with arseholes.

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1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

I agree on the solar panels mainly because I know of two house fires caused by them one of which was a new house. They are also ugly imo.
 

Flat roofs are fine if done correctly using modern materials and then maintained. It wasn’t done ‘in the old days’ so much because the lack of suitable roofing materials. Materials science has come a long way over the last few decades. 
 

What that house is starting to show is everything I don’t like about wood cladding. 

 

Flat roofs in this country will eventually become like a sieve and people will have to spend a fortune patching them.

 

You get these cool/hip architects promoting all these things that are not suitable for houses in this wet and windy climate. Flat roofs, sheet roofing and wood cladding etc. They somehow make it sound modern an innovative to use methods that weren't used for good reason.

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5 hours ago, MBT6 said:

green streaks below the solar panels, wonder what is causing

It's a guess due to the scale ( a long shot, due to the long shot. Sorry)

It may simply be lichen caused by rain dribbling slowly from the assembly, and some shelter from the wind, and thus the roof being wet for longer.

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14 hours ago, MBT6 said:

The house is new and there are already green streaks below the solar panels, wonder what is causing that. 

 

If it is that bad when the house is new I wonder what that will look like in 20 years.

 

Personally I would never buy a house with solar panels on the roof. They can lead to too many problems down the line, especially with the wet and windy climate we have in the UK. I would also never buy a house with any flat flat roofing which this one also has.

 

All the old houses in the background have appropriate pitched roofs for the climate. The modern trend of installing flat roofs in this country is strange, people didn't do it in the past for good reason. 

 

I'm sorry, but that is a load of twaddle. You're seriously worried about green streaks on the roof? Oh no, our PVs have some lichen growing along the bottom edge, what am I to do, they've only been there twelve years and we're in the wet and windy South West. We're going to be building a flat roofed extension as well, there's no hope. Perhaps we'll be alright though, as technology has moved on and there are now roofing materials that allow flat roofs to be built safely.

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1 minute ago, Gone West said:

as technology has moved on and there are now roofing materials that allow flat roofs to be built safely.

I started using GRP 49 years ago.  I suspect that the remains of that kayak is still not rotting away at the bottom of the Isis between Newbridge and Northmoor.

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2 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I started using GRP 49 years ago.  I suspect that the remains of that kayak is still not rotting away at the bottom of the Isis between Newbridge and Northmoor.

Butyl rubber has been around a long time and EPDM. To get around the problem of damp when installing GRP on a roof is it feasible to use GRP sheets bonded to the substrate?

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