Owner-occupied or let: when MEES applies to an industrial building

Does MEES apply to owner-occupied buildings?

No. The regulations apply to "non-domestic PR property": property let under a tenancy (regulation 20). The duty in regulation 27 is a duty not to let. An owner running their own business from their own building isn't letting it, so the E minimum doesn't apply, even at F or G.

The same goes for an empty building. DESNZ's guidance says that if a property is empty and the owner isn't planning to let it, no action is needed until they decide to let it again.

What turns an owner-occupied building into a let one?

• Granting a lease to a tenant, including letting part of the building. MEES then applies to the let part from the start of the tenancy.
• A sale and leaseback: selling the building and taking a lease back creates a new tenancy, so the building must be at E or have an exemption registered when the lease is granted.
• Selling to an investor who lets it. The buyer becomes the landlord and has to meet the standard.
• Letting it to your own company, for example from a pension scheme or a property-holding company. A lease is a tenancy, whoever the tenant is. Take advice if you're not sure how an arrangement counts.

Licences and agreements for lease are treated differently: the full guidance says property occupied other than under a tenancy, for example on a licence, is unlikely to be required to meet the standard. Very short tenancies (a fixed term of 6 months or less, with exceptions) and those of 99 years or more are excluded too.

Does an owner-occupied building still need an EPC?

Not just to be occupied. GOV.UK says a business building needs an EPC when it's sold or let, when a new building is finished, and when it's changed into more or fewer separate parts with new or extended fixed heating, air conditioning or ventilation. Not making one available to a prospective buyer or tenant can lead to a fine of £500 to £5,000, based on the rateable value (GOV.UK).

If an owner-occupier commissions an EPC voluntarily, to see where the building stands, the full guidance says lodging it doesn't by itself make the landlord rules apply.

Selling an owner-occupied industrial building

The building needs a valid EPC to be marketed for sale, but MEES doesn't stop the sale, whatever the rating. The landlord guidance says that if the buyer is also an owner-occupier, the regulations don't apply at all.

If the buyer is an investor planning to let, the rating matters to them: an F or G building will need improving or an exemption before it can be let, and buildings over 1,000 m² (10,764 sq ft) rated C to E fall below the EPC B standard proposed for 2031. It may affect what they will pay.

Can you tell from the EPC register whether a building is let?

No. The register records why each EPC was lodged (to let, for a sale, for a new building, or voluntarily), not whether the building is let today. A building with an EPC lodged for a letting may since have been sold to an occupier, and an owner-occupied building may have an EPC from an old sale.

That's why our figures include owner-occupied buildings. Of the 25,619 industrial and warehouse buildings over 1,000 m² rated C to E, the latest EPC was lodged for a letting for 11,499 (44.9%); for the rest it was lodged for a sale, a new building or another reason (EPC register, snapshot 30 Sep 2026). That's a partial signal of which buildings are let, not a count.

Does the 2031 proposal cover owner-occupied buildings?

The interim response of 18 June 2026 proposes EPC B from 2031 for "private rented buildings over 1,000 square metres", where cost effective. On that wording an owner-occupied building isn't covered while it's owner-occupied. It's a proposal: it needs secondary legislation, and the detail is due in the full government response. See EPC B by 2031.