New Legislation Due In - Don't Get Left Behind
What
a year it has been so far! Who would have thought back at the start of 2016
that by this time we would have lost so many celebrities, no longer be in the EU and that the Americans
would vote Donald Trump as the President Elect of the United States?
Truly
interesting times for all and the future still doesn’t fail to surprise. However
there are some surprises that aren’t really a surprise – they just seem that
way.
What
seems to have escaped everyone’s attention (not surprising really with
everything else that has gone on this year!) is that the legislation is changing
with regard to Energy Performance Certificates for both non domestic and
domestic properties. They have been around now for a few years and we continue
to supply a wide variety of landlords with our services, local authorities,
solicitors and private landlords as valued clients.
However
this is going to be one of those surprising surprises that really we knew about
but in the excitement of 2016 we forgot about.
The
government have in place changes that will affect all property landlords
starting in 2018 – which really is not that far away.
The
new minimum energy efficiency requirements which will apply to both domestic
and non domestic epc’s could mean that it will be unlawful to let out
properties if they do not meet new minimum standards. Please bear in mind
though that as usual there are exceptions and you may want to check first.
From
the April 2018 commercial property must have a rating better than E – any property
with a rating of F or G may well prove problematic in letting out. Such is the
concern amongst agents that some are forecasting potential drops in valuations
for those properties rated F or G.
Why
are we contacting our clients now? Well the better the lead in time to resolving
a problem the easier that the problem is to solve. So even though nothing is
going to happen for around 18 months and you may be unaware of these changes
then the chances are you will have a bigger problem down the line.
So
basically from April 2018 all property for lease or sale will have to meet
minimum energy efficiency standards and that may mean that as a landlord you
may need to improve the energy efficiency of your properties. If you have a completed
epc then you will know the rating – and if it’s below an E rating then at least
you know what to do to improve the rating.
So
rather than wait until the last moment it may well be useful to phase in a
schedule of energy efficiency improvements to your property.
Having
said all this please don’t forget that the energy efficiency software that we use,
as approved and issued by the DCLG, has over the years been improved and
refined. Whilst a few years ago a property then may have had an E rating but
with the most recent software analysis of a property that rating may be in
danger of dropping a rating to an F or G.
It
is on this basis that we are contacting our clients so that we can continue to
provide the best advice possible and if your EPC provider hasn’t contacted you
then you may want to contact them.
Having
said that if they haven’t contacted you are they looking after your best
interests? And on that note you may want to contact us to discuss your
requirements with a company that cares for its clients – just drop us an email
or give us a call.
You
can email me direct dave@devsol.biz or you
can telephone me direct on 0330 111 1082 and we can review your needs and
advise you accordingly and it may even be that, as mentioned, your property
could be exempt.
We
look forward to hearing from you with any queries you may have.
Labels: commercial property epc, commercial property energy assessment, commercial property landlord, energy performance certificate, epc
<< Home