Report Reveals 81% Non-Compliance With Energy Regulations in UK Commercial Property Market

MILTON KEYNES, England - Even the greenest of businesses are unlikely to be able to make informed choices about the energy efficiency of the premises they buy or rent right now, according to new research published today by National Energy Services (NES).

In a mystery shopping exercise to check on compliance with European and UK law relating to the energy efficiency of buildings in the commercial property sector, NES discovered that more than 80% of agents it spoke to were unable to provide the mandatory Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) for the offices or shops they were marketing for sale or rent.

These certificates are a critical part of the Government’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills for businesses.

88 out of 108 agents (81%) failed to provide an EPC. Almost half of these agents (47%, or 41 agents) said they believed the certificate was not necessary, or just could not give an explanation about why no EPC was available.

National Energy Services, which runs the NHER accreditation scheme, the UK’s largest accreditation scheme for EPCs, is calling for Government to get rid of the anomalies between the commercial property sector and the residential sector where EPCs are much more readily available.

Austin Baggett, deputy managing director of National Energy Services said:

“The EPC is not just any piece of paper. It’s now required by law to inform potential buyers or tenants about the energy performance of a building, so that they can consider energy efficiency as part of their investment or business decision to buy or occupy that building.

“EPCs are a great vehicle to deliver the UK’s carbon reduction plans. We have all the infrastructure in place, including thousands of qualified energy assessors ready to provide these certificates at short notice. But with 80% of commercial buildings not complying with the regulations, the potential for carbon and financial savings by business is seriously undermined.

“The display of the EPC rating should be mandatory on all commercial building particulars used by agents to market the building. This is already in place for the sale of homes, and it brings real transparency and help to consumers. In this way, the industry can almost police itself. But this does not reduce the importance of Trading Standard Officers actually going out and checking on compliance and taking action where necessary- something that they are clearly not doing at the moment.

“The energy assessor community is ready and waiting to work with Government and business to overcome the current problems with non-compliance. We would like to see a pan-industry working group that involves our members working on boosting understanding within the commercial property market. NHER energy assessors’ skills, contacts and enthusiasm could and should be harnessed to communicate information at a local level.”

To read a full copy of the report, go to: tinyurl.com/nhernews

Liz Male Liz Male Consulting Ltd +44(0)1908-551976 www.lizmale.co.uk

Source: National Energy Services Ltd.

Liz Male, Liz Male Consulting Ltd, +44(0)7778-778361, Skype: liz.male, Twitter: at lizmale, www.lizmale.co.uk, www.lizmale.co.uk/blog