Addressing market failures in the building energy sector
Miles Keeping, co-Founder of Hillbreak, features in a new and detailed Property Week article on key limitations and failures in the building energy assessment market. The role of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), historically treated by many as merely an administrative licence to transact, has been brought into much sharper focus in the commercial and domestic real estate markets by the forthcoming Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations.
Miles comments on Hillbreak’s experience of advising clients in both transaction and portfolio risk management contexts, where examples of negligent energy assessments undertaken by third party assessors have been found. It’s a common problem in the market, the risk being for property owners that their Energy Performance Certificates will be challenged by potential purchasers and occupiers, leading to delayed deals and chipped prices. Assessors who issue inaccurate EPCs may also find that they face claims for damages arising from their negligence.
The article also announces that Keeping has been appointed to lead an industry group convened to provide the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) with advice on additional guidance on EPCs and MEES, as well as to deliver training to civil servants in DECC and Department for Communities & Local Government.
