MEES: Letting a Commercial Building With an F or G EPC

MEES: Letting a Commercial Building With an F or G EPC

Last updated 1 November 2026. General guidance, not legal advice.

If your commercial building has an F or G EPC, you can't let it, renew the lease or keep letting it unless you bring it up to E or register a valid exemption. That has applied to new lets and renewals since 1 April 2018, and to every existing lease since 1 April 2023.

What the rule says

The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) cover privately rented non-domestic property in England and Wales. The minimum is EPC E. A building with a valid EPC rated F or G is "sub-standard".

A landlord must not grant, renew or extend a tenancy, or carry on letting, a sub-standard building unless a valid exemption is registered, or every relevant improvement has been made and the building is still below E (and that is registered too).

EPC B by 2031 for rented buildings over 1,000 m² is government policy, not law yet. Until the new regulations are made, E is the line.

Does it apply to your lease?

• It covers any type of tenancy of a building that legally needs an EPC.
• It does not cover leases of 6 months or less, unless the lease can run beyond 6 months or the tenant has already been in occupation for more than 12 months.
• It does not cover leases of 99 years or more.
• It does not cover buildings that don't need an EPC, such as places of worship, temporary buildings used for two years or less and stand-alone buildings under 50 m².

An EPC lasts 10 years. If it expires part-way through a lease, you don't automatically need a new one. The building comes back into MEES the next time it is let, sold or modified and a new EPC is needed, and the new rating then decides whether you can let it.

Getting from F or G to E

Start with an up-to-date picture. An old EPC often uses default values where the assessor had no evidence. Plant data sheets, lighting schedules and proof of insulation can change the rating before you spend anything.

Then test the upgrades. We model the building in SBEM as it stands, then model each upgrade to see what it does to the rating. Lighting and controls are usually the cheapest place to start, then heating and cooling plant. Fabric and renewables can add more, at a higher cost. The aim is the lowest-cost route to E, or straight to B if you want to be ready for 2031.

The exemptions

If E can't be reached at a sensible cost, you need an exemption, and it only counts once it is on the PRS Exemptions Register. The main ones:

• All relevant improvements made. Everything that passes the payback test is done and the rating is still F or G. Lasts 5 years.
• 7-year payback. A recommended measure only has to go in if the expected energy savings over 7 years are at least the cost of paying for it. Costs exclude VAT. Measures that fail on their own can pass as a package. The evidence is three quotes from qualified installers plus the calculations. Lasts 5 years.
• Consent. The tenant, a lender, a superior landlord or the planning authority refuses consent after reasonable efforts to get it. For planning, one refused application is usually enough. Lasts 5 years, or until that tenancy ends if a tenant refused.
• Devaluation. An independent surveyor on the RICS register of valuers reports that the works would cut the market value by more than 5%. Lasts 5 years.
• Wall insulation. Written expert advice that wall insulation would harm the fabric or structure. Lasts 5 years.
• New landlord. 6 months in set cases, such as buying a building that is already let.

Exemptions don't pass to a buyer. And an exemption only covers the measures it names: if one upgrade is blocked, the others that pass the payback test still have to be done.

What happens if you ignore it

Trading Standards enforce MEES. They can serve a compliance notice asking for the EPC and the lease. Penalties are based on rateable value, up to £150,000 for letting in breach for 3 months or more, per property and per breach, and landlords can be named publicly.

Act before the lease event

Check the EPC rating and expiry date on every building you let, well before a letting or renewal. A tenant's 1954 Act renewal can't be refused because the building is sub-standard, so have the works or the exemption ready. Voids and fit-outs are the cheapest time to upgrade.

How we help

We survey the building, build the SBEM model, test which upgrades reach E or B, cost them and run the payback check. If E can't be reached cost-effectively, the report gives you the evidence for the exemption. After the works we lodge a new EPC. EPC B upgrade plans start from £700+VAT, turned around in 5 working days once we have everything we need.

Questions we get asked

My EPC has expired. Do I need a new one to keep my tenant? Not automatically. A new EPC is needed when the building is next let, sold or modified, and MEES then applies to the new rating.

Can I renew a lease on an F-rated building? Only once it reaches E or a valid exemption is registered.

Who registers the exemption? The landlord, on the PRS Exemptions Register. It is free, there is no certificate, and you need a copy of a valid EPC.

Does EPC B by 2031 change this today? No. It still needs new regulations. Until then the minimum is E and the exemptions above still apply.

More: EPC B upgrade plans, commercial EPCs, SBEM calculations, how long a commercial EPC lasts, EPC B by 2031: what commercial landlords need to know and the latest industry updates.

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