Strict environmental targets for commercial properties could leave landlords with an unlettable portfolio, warns Joe Collison, managing director of specialist electrical contractors CES.
Landlords need to make sure their properties are futureproofed ahead of regulations tightening in 2027 to avoid fines of up to £150,000.
Businesses and landlords have less than two years to make sure their properties are at least at EPC C standard, and less than five years to achieve the very tough EPC B.
Collison said: “Non-compliance with these regulations is likely to bring hefty fines, so it makes good financial sense to get your properties up to standard now, especially for energy-hungry businesses like manufacturing.
“There is also a very real risk that some landlords might not know the rules have changed and so are oblivious to the fines that might be dropped on them.
“Realistically, achieving an EPC of grade C in 2027 is going to be difficult for most properties let alone achieving a grade B from 2030, without significant investment in renewable technologies.
“The pay-off, of course, is that the investment will be repaid many times over in the form of lower or no energy bills.”
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) were introduced by the previous Conservative government in 2015.
It is projected that up to 80% of commercial buildings would fail to meet the 2030 deadline as they stand now
Collison added: “Buildings can be upgraded with better insulation, better designed doors and windows, as well as technologies like solar panels and heat pumps.
“Large buildings, for example, have a lot of roof space which is perfect for housing photovoltaic panels to generate energy from the sun. This is not some vague wishful pipedream for years ahead either – there are already large manufacturing sites across the country which are wholly or largely powered by solar.
“Battery technology has also made huge leaps forward over the past few years, making the storage of all that free energy even easier.”