Southampton: Landlords' fears for properties with low EPC ratings unfounded, says Goadsby

You will not be able to let your commercial property in 2018 unless you spend significant amounts of money on improving the building, or so run the stories. Often the advice is to sell, says commercial property agent Goadsby, but some small changes can have a significant impact. 

The Energy Act 2011 requires new regulations by April 2018. These regulations will prevent a landlord from letting a non-domestic property with an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating below a specified level, unless the landlord has taken up any Green Deal funding. Many commentators have interpreted this as meaning that properties with poor ratings cannot be put on the market.

Goadsby divisional director Robert Fairbairn said: “Talk of specific ratings and dates is pure conjecture, although it is expected that F and G bands are the ones most likely to be affected by any regulations that are made. We still do not have details of Commercial Green Deal funding, but it is expected that this will provide capital funding to improve the property, rather than the landlord having to pay.”

Fairbairn continued: “Simple maintenance, like replacing tungsten filament lamps with modern compact florescent lamps as they fail, can have a significant impact on an EPC rating. A rating takes into consideration the use of the building, so a building that has a poor rating for one use may have a perfectly acceptable rating for another use.”