0:01 AM, 11th April 2025, About a month ago 2
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The UK’s commercial real estate market is on course to miss a critical energy performance certificate (EPC) deadline by a full decade, according to a study.
The findings by property data and technology firm Search Acumen warns that rented commercial buildings in England and Wales will not achieve the 2030 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) – requiring an EPC rating of B or better – until at least 2040.
This projection marks a significant slowdown compared to last year’s findings, which suggested the sector would reach compliance by 2038.
The two-year delay highlights a worrying reduction in the rate of progress toward greener buildings, raising concerns about the industry’s ability to meet environmental targets.
The firm’s managing director, Andrew Lloyd, said: “Real estate owners and investors have faced a barrage of economic and financial challenges over recent years and inevitably this will have had some impact on the appetite for investment in costly retrofits.
“Similarly, since the pandemic, how we live, work and shop has changed impacting the investment in asset management initiatives.
“This is most notable in the office sector, where appetite for investment in energy efficiency upgrades has been made more complex by declining occupier demand for larger floorplates.”
He added: “Despite these dynamics, the mission to decarbonise needs to remain a constant, both to lower the environmental impact of the built environment, but also to ensure commercial sustainability for real estate portfolios.
“2030 really isn’t that far away.”
Despite the MEES regulations, introduced in April 2023, prohibiting the rental of properties with EPC ratings below E, more than 13,000 available commercial units still hold the lowest grades of F or G.
This noncompliance poses a major challenge to reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment.
Data from 2024 reveals a 20% drop in upgrades to the top A*-B EPC categories compared to the previous year, signalling a decline in investment in energy improvements.
The office sector bears the brunt of this issue, with nearly 5,761 buildings still rated F or G, accounting for a substantial portion of the total stock.
Just 15% of offices have secured the highest efficiency ratings, which highlights a pressing need for action.
In contrast, the hospitality industry leads the way, with 31% of its buildings now rated A, A*, or B – a 4% increase since April 2024.
Meanwhile, the retail sector has made strides, reducing its share of non-compliant properties to just 0.54%, the lowest across all sectors.
The education sector also shows progress, the firm says, with only 1.8% of buildings rated F or G and a 19% share achieving top ratings, up 7% from last year.
Laura Delow
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Sign Up9:01 AM, 13th April 2025, About a month ago
Existing EPC for one of our commercial properties last carried out in 2018 was rated C67. Since 2018 a number of improvements have been carried out that should hopefully bring it up to a B rating under existing metrics. Question: If we have another EPC carried out (under existing metrics) in early 2026 before new MEES metrics come into effect (that might otherwise have a negative impact) & it does come back as a B rating, will this EPC hold good for 10years like will be the case with Residential properties?
Contango
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Sign Up17:35 PM, 14th April 2025, About a month ago
Your assessor ought to be able to do the assessment but not register it without your agreement. The answer to your question is that no one yet knows. Given the damage all of this nit zero stuff has done to industry there is always the chance that we shall see a very different government in place in time who has other priorities to pursue.
To my mind it is madness to ban the exploitation of our fossil fuel deposits but laud importation of electricity from abroad. Building new nuclear power stations involves a vast amount of energy being used as hundreds or thousands of tons of reinforced concrete is required all of which involves heating rocks to over 1000C. Likewise HS2 absolutely gargantual amounts of energy before either project open for business.