THE MIDLANDS PROPERT Y GUIDE MONE YWATCH F INANCE
MONEYWATCH FINANCE 46
BEWARE, DON’T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF MAKING YOUR HOME WORTHLESS AND UN-MORTGAGEABLE
Foam insulation approved under government green homes scheme renders 250,000 homes worthless
The Residential Property Surveyors Association said there may be as many as 250,000 homes with spray foam insulation in the loft.
Hundreds of thousands of homeowners who had spray foam installed in their lofts could find their properties are worthless unless they spend thousands of pounds having it removed.
Spray foam insulation has been used for around 30 years, but has become more popular in the last decade.
Now the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA) said there may be as many as 250,000 homes with spray foam insulation in the loft. It said the guidance being offered to its members was to adopt a “highly cautious approach, recommending removal of the spray foam in almost every case”.
The problem insulation was included in the Government’s Green Homes Grant which was given to homeowners in England to help pay for certain energy-efficient home improvements.
Although it closed to new applications on 31 March 2021, the grant allowed homeowners to claim the cost back of at least two thirds of the cost of some energy-saving renovations. The maximum amount available was £10,000.
We started noticing the issue when clients came to us saying they had been told they couldn’t sell or remortgage their property following a surveyor’s valuation. The problem was foam insulation installed in their roof.
He said: “One client who came to me was devastated because the surveyor had shown them a form where the surveyor had put the value of the property at £0. They were told it was because they had had foam insulation installed in their roof.”
The foam insulation used in lofts is not to be confused with cavity wall insulation.
The type of foam insulation used in lofts is made from polyurethane foam (SPF). He said: “It is also known as spray foam, or spray polyurethane foam (SPF), this is an alternative to traditional building insulation such as fibreglass, wool or mineral fibre rolls. It can be used to insulate your roof, loft, walls and floor – but it is the roof installation that particularly causes problems for UK mortgage lenders.”
The foam is applied in a liquid form using powered sprayers, which then expands and turns to a solid coating.
There are two types of spray foam insulation, open cell spray foam insulation and closed cell spray foam.
The issue is with the closed cell spray foam, “Because it seals the roof space with this material, air circulation can be restricted to the roof and timbers. This can lead to condensation, which in turn can eventually lead to the rotting of the wooden roof supports.”
“The closed cell foam version also sets very hard. This can put stresses onto the supporting roof timbers too, causing distortion of the roof itself.”
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