Business Rates Changes and Energy Performance Certificates for All
For property owners and developments, 2008 is seeing a continuation of the trend of recent years, increasing the number of changes to business regulations and increasing new policies. These changes affect almost all business premises and will require time and effort from business management to deal with.
energy performance certificates (epcs) or £5,000 fine?
An EPC is a written report by an Energy Assessor, grading premises against a benchmark for energy efficiency of the heating, lighting, insulation and CO2 emissions of those premises.
From 6 April 2008 the requirement for EPC's within a property transaction will be rolled out for commercial premises in stages:-
- More than 10,000m2 - 6 April 2008
- More than 2500m2 - 1 July 2008
- All properties - 1 October 2008
Failure to provide a valid EPC on the construction, sale or rental of a commercial property could result in a fine of up to £5000. For new buildings no EPC will mean no certificate of practical completion. An EPC will become a vital part of any commercial property transaction.
business rates changes
Commercial, industrial and warehouse premises will lose rates relief when they become un-used after 1 April 2008.
- Empty commercial premises - 100% relief for the first 3 months but NO relief after that period
- Empty industrial or warehouse premises - 100% relief for the first 6 months but NO relief after that period
- Properties that have been empty for the full 3 or 6 month period prior to 1 April 2008 will have no relief and full rates will be payable from 1 April 2008.
- New build properties will have similar periods of relief from the specified completion date. However, the rating authority can impose a completion date if they consider a property can reasonably be expected to be completed within 3 months
These changes are bound to have a material effect on developers' willingness to undertake speculative schemes, particularly at a time of economic unertainty.
Further regulations to be introduced include:-
- CDM Regulations 2007 - from 5 April 2008, principle contractors and planning supervisors under the CDM Regulations 1994 must have their competence to act as principle contractors or CDM co-ordinators under the 2007 Regulations tested
- Display Energy Performance Certificates (DEC's) from 1 October 2008
- Inspections of air conditioning systems from 4 January 2009
If these changes raise any questions or you would like any assistance in assessing how the changes may affect you, please contact Simon Gittings or Jane Stevens on 01482 324591. Our property department will be able to advise you on the best course of action to minimise the impact on your business.
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