Changes for commercial landlords

Changes for commercial landlords

If you’re a commercial property owner or tenant, there were some important changes in April 2023 that may affect you.

As part of the UK’s drive towards sustainability, it is now unlawful to let a commercial property with a F or G EPC rating and there are significant penalties for breaches. An EPC gives a property an energy efficiency rating from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient) and is valid for 10 years.

Not all buildings need an EPC, for example,

• stand-alone buildings with total useful floor space of less than 50 square metres
• industrial sites, workshops and non-residential agricultural buildings that do not use a lot of energy
• some buildings that are due to be demolished

However, for commercial landlords, the new rules mean that they may not be able to let their properties without investment in the energy efficiency of the buildings.

From April 1^st 2023, the owners of second homes who have been claiming their properties are holiday lets when they are not, will have to pay council tax rather than business rates. To qualify as a holiday let, owners will have to prove that their property was let last year for a minimum of 70 days and has availability for letting for at least 140 days in the coming year, to qualify for business rates.