The Law Commission and UK Government have launched consultations into the right to renew business tenancies and energy performance of buildings respectively.
Consultation on right to renew business tenancies
The Law Commission Consultation on the right to renew business tenancies (again!) looks at whether, and in what circumstances a business tenant should have security of tenure under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (Act). Responses are sought from landlords, tenants, and property professionals alike.
Views are being sought on 4 proposed models of business tenancy protection:
- Tenants have no business tenancy protection – in other words that the Act is abolished completely;
- Parties contract in to security of tenure, and have the option to opt in to a statutory scheme;
- Parties contract out of security of tenure, namely the current model;
- There is mandatory security of tenure, so that no contracting out is allowed.
View are also being sought on whether tenancies should be excluded based on certain characteristics, for example use, duration, or the existence of another protective regime.
Consultation responses are requested by 19 February 2025 and a link to the consultation for anyone interested in making their views heard can be found here:
Business Tenancies: the right to renew Consultation Paper 1: models of security of tenure
A survey regarding the current operation of the Act can be found here: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/law-commission/business- tenancies-survey
The Law Commission advises that there will be a second consultation paper regarding the detail of how a chosen model should work, later in the year.
Energy Performance of Buildings consultation
In line with its ambitious goal for the nation to achieve net-zero status by 2050, the UK government has launched a consultation to reform the Energy Performance of Buildings (otherwise known as EPB) regime.
The consultation runs until 26 February 2025 and will look at key areas such as:
- Updating the metrics upon which Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) for both domestic and commercial buildings are based;
- Refining EPC and display energy certificate requirements;
- Strengthening quality control to improve the reliability and accuracy of EPC assessments; and
- Revising the air conditioning inspection reports regime.
More information on the EPB consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforms-to-the-energy-performance-of-buildings-regime/reforms-to-the-energy-performance-of-buildings-regime#basic-information
The government welcomes input on this consultation. If you would like to contribute, please follow this link: https://consult.communities.gov.uk/energy-performance-of-buildings/consultation-on-reforms-to-epb/
Once the consultation period has expired, the government will analyse the responses and publish a summary of the feedback.
Any updates to the EPC metrics are expected to be implemented in the second half of 2026.
Any changes arising as a result of this consultation are likely to impact our landlord clients in particular.
We will publish further advice and updates on both consultations as they become available. In the meantime, please contact a member of our team if you have any questions on what the consultations mean for you.