Government confirms EPC B target for larger non-domestic buildings by 2031

The government has laid out plans for its long-delayed reform to energy efficiency standards for commercial property, confirming that the largest non-domestic buildings will need to reach an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of B by 2031.

The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for non-domestic property have been under consultation since 2019, and the direction of travel has been clear for some time. The current minimum is an EPC rating of E, but other details were blurry: how those ratings would be raised, on what timetable, and which buildings would be caught.

New rules

Non-domestic buildings over 1,000 sq. m. that are let will need to reach EPC B by 2031, where the works are cost-effective. That is a year later than the 2030 deadline first proposed. What’s more is that the interim target of EPC C by 2027 has been dropped.

What is set to stay is that buildings under 1,000 sq. m. will stay at the current EPC E minimum, with no new deadline set, and the existing exemptions process will continue as it stands.

A narrowing target

The scope has changed the most. The 2020 Energy White Paper put forward an EPC B requirement that would have applied across almost all non-domestic rented stock, bringing an estimated 85 per cent of commercial buildings – around a million properties – into scope.

The confirmed approach is more targeted and concentrates on the largest buildings, where the potential energy savings are greatest, and leaves smaller premises on the existing standard for now.

Government modelling cited alongside the announcement suggests tenants in the larger buildings could save in the region of £360 million a year by 2031.

What does this mean for owners and landlords?

The timetable looks generous on paper, but bringing a large commercial building from an E rating up to a B is rarely a quick job. Retrofit, HVAC upgrades and fabric improvements all carry long lead times, and the works often have to wait for a void period or a lease event before they can be carried out.

Owners who treat 2031 as a distant problem risk running out of time. However, those with time on their side are better placed to map the route to compliance now, spreading the cost across the ownership cycle rather than meeting it in a single, expensive push closer to the deadline.

What to expect next

The framework still needs parliamentary approval before it becomes law, so things could change. The first question is whether the sub-1,000 sq. m. threshold is tightened in a future round; nothing concrete has been proposed, but the government has not ruled it out. The second is enforcement, given the current system has long been criticised as difficult for local authorities to police.

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