Does your commercial property meet the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)?
MEES is a government led initiative which is part of their 2050 commitment to have zero CO2 emission by 2050.
If you are entering in to a new lease or renewing an existing lease then the property must now meet a minimum of ‘E’ in its Energy Performance Certification (EPC). Whether you are a landlord or a tenant then you need to be aware of this requirement as it could affect your property deals. Importantly, failure to comply with MEES is considered unlawful and can result in substantial cash fines.
Interestingly, some financiers are raising the bar even higher than ‘E’ which could make it more expensive, in terms of lending rates, to secure property loans in the future.
Going forward, it may be prudent to optimise the performance of your property portfolio rather than to meet minimum standards, regulated standards could be upgraded at anytime while of course building performance is likely to be falling over-time. As a tenant finding commercial space with higher EPC ratings is beneficial to operating costs and CSR and therefore should be high on the priority list when searching for premises.
It is estimated that 20% of all commercial property in the UK is non-compliant with this standard, do you know whether your property is compliant? If you think you need some help with compliance with MEES then please contact us here at Doyen Land
Doyen Land is a Property Advisory service with 30 years’ experience in commercial property and development consultancy. We are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and our clients benefit from expert professional advice and support.
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