Towns to be blighted with empty office blocks under net zero rules

Telegraph

09-07-2025

Towns across Britain face being blighted with empty office blocks under proposed net zero energy efficiency rules, experts have warned.
Nearly two thirds of offices across the country would fail to meet proposed energy performance certificate (EPC) targets by 2030 without significant investment, according to findings by property consultancy Carter Jonas.
Researchers warned that without 'urgent' investment, older and lower-quality offices 'face a future of declining value, rising vacancies and operational obsolescence'. The conclusion was based on analysis of 120,000 buildings across the country.
Towns and cities in England's regions are the most at risk of being left with unusable buildings because these areas traditionally suffer weaker investment and tenant demand than London.
Under government proposals devised in 2021, offices and other commercial properties can only be rented out if they have an energy efficiency rating of at least C from 2027 and either A or B from 2030.
Labour has still not confirmed whether it will give those measures the go-ahead, scrap them or push back the deadlines, despite previously promising to update the industry during the first half of this year.
The lack of clarity over this has left commercial landlords in limbo.
Researchers at Carter Jonas said: 'The proposed 2027 and 2030 [deadlines] represent potential cliff-edge moments for ... buildings with EPC ratings of C or below. While timelines may shift modestly, the direction of policy is clear.'
'Far too slow'
Landlords have made some progress with renovations, with Carter Jonas noting a near-6pc rise in EPC A to C certifications since 2023. These account for nearly 38pc of the nation's offices. The proportion of bottom-rated buildings has reduced from 17.2pc to 14.1pc over the same period.
However, Richard Love, the head of commercial consultancy at Carter Jonas, said progress remained 'far too slow', and warned the pace was short of what was needed to meet proposed targets.
Mr Love said: 'We urgently need to scale up retrofits and rethink how we deal with ageing buildings – or we risk leaving parts of the market and whole communities behind.'
More than half of all office floorspace – totalling around 700m sq ft across nearly 68,000 buildings – was built before 1990, signalling the scale of the challenge in bringing offices up to modern standards.
However, researchers warned that even many newer buildings constructed in the past two decades could also fall short of future sustainability requirements.
Glasgow and Edinburgh have been the best cities at bringing buildings up to new energy efficiency standards, which Carter Jonas said was a signal of effective local policy and investment. Cardiff and Manchester were among the worst.
The British Property Federation (BPF) has previously criticised the proposed EPC deadlines as 'unrealistic'.
Research from the BPF showed earlier this year that 83pc of commercial properties in England's biggest cities could become unlettable by 2030 without significant investment. Bristol and Birmingham were among the most exposed.
Raising a building's EPC rating is a process that can take several years. Landlords need to give notice to the tenants, who would need to vacate the premises.
Owners then need to apply for planning permission for improvement works, which need to be commissioned and completed before final inspections are carried out. Renovations can also cost millions of pounds.