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Compliance

MEES and the 2031 standard

If you let commercial property in England or Wales, the rating is a legal question rather than a preference.

Where a rating has to sit, and by when
TODAY
Band E or better to keep letting. F and G need a registered exemption. Applies to privately let non domestic property of any size in England and Wales.
EXPECTED 2031
Band B for privately let non domestic buildings over 1,000 square metres, where it is cost effective. Confirmed policy direction, still subject to secondary legislation. Buildings under the threshold stay at band E.

Solid bands are lettable under the expected 2031 standard. Outlined bands are lettable today. Nothing here is a prediction about your building. Add it and we will show you the band on the register and what would move it.

What applies now

It is unlawful to continue letting a non domestic property below band E without a registered exemption. An EPC is a modelled rating, not a measurement of your bills.

Band F and G

Cannot be let

Unless a valid exemption is registered on the national register.
Exemptions

Time limited

They expire, and they have to be registered rather than assumed.
The certificate

Modelled, not measured

A poor band and a low bill can sit together. Both still matter.

What is expected

Band B by 2031 for privately let buildings over 1,000 square metres, where cost effective. That is policy direction, still subject to secondary legislation.

Under threshold

Band E stands

Buildings below 1,000 square metres stay at the band E requirement. Planning against band B for one of those spends money you did not need to spend.
Enforcement

Local authority

Penalties are civil. We do not quote amounts here, because they are set in regulations and a figure quoted loosely is worse than none.
In practice

At a lease event

A building that cannot be let has no income, and the work becomes a negotiation about who pays.

Who it binds

Landlords letting or renewing in England and Wales, and owners preparing to let or sell. Scotland and Northern Ireland run different regimes.

Owner occupiers are bound indirectly. The standard does not reach you while you occupy, but it reaches whoever you sell or let to, and it prices into the asset.

What moves a rating

Only measures modelled into a non domestic assessment change the band. Battery storage, EV charging and voltage optimisation are worth doing for other reasons.

Which are exposed

The portfolio view with the exposure filter on, picking out buildings sitting at or below the standard that applies to them.

Illustrative building, not a real siteThe portfolio view, filtered to buildings with exposure
Total sites
3
Total floor area
9,370 m2
MEES exposed
3
Any consent granted
1
Riverside House, 12 Mill Lane
Leeds, LS1 0AA
MEES exposed
1,850 m2OfficeEPC ELandlordConsent granted3 meters
No report
Trade counter, Fenwick Retail Park
Bristol, BS1 0AA
MEES exposed
1,120 m2RetailEPC DLandlordConsent requested1 meters
No report
Warehouse 2, Eastgate Distribution Park
Nottingham, NG1 0AA
MEES exposed
6,400 m2WarehouseEPC FLandlordNo consent2 meters
No report

A rating at risk, or a certificate about to expire, appears on your attention list rather than in a report you have to remember to open. For landlords

See where yours sit

Add a building and we will show its rating, its expiry, and what would move it.