Article by Christina
Pension holders with a commercial property Sipp or a Ssas need to be aware of new legislation coming into force.
From 1st April this year, all commercial properties will need to have a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). These are issued after inspection to determine a properties energy efficient standards. In order to be sold, or let out to a tenant, a property will need a rating of between A and E on the scale of assessment.
A Commercial Property Sipp a valid EPC or a rating below E, will not be allowed to have tenants. It’s also unlikely that they will be desirable to a buyer either. The owner will also face fines for not having a certificate or failing to bring the property up to minimum standards.
If you are in this position you will need to pay for an assessment before 1st April.
In the private landlord market things are different.
Private landlords have until 1st April 2025 to ensure that their properties EPC rating is up to a minimum of level C. Currently the minimum standard is level E.
Overall, the government is trying to improve energy efficiency across the whole of the UK’s housing stock. But its estimated that 10% of houses will never be able to achieve an EPC rating of better than E, for one reason or another. Its not clear what will happen to those houses over time.
Meanwhile away from Commercial Property Sipp investments, the FTSE 100 broke through the 8,000 milestone (15th February).
This is good news for equity investors. Although it has been some time coming.
The 7,000 barrier was broken back in 2015, nearly eight years ago. But before that, it took nearly 17 years for the index to grow from 6,000 in April 1998 to 7,000 in March 2015. Going way back in time, the FTSE first launched in January 1984 at an index of 1,000. It broke through the 2,000 barrier three years later in March 1987.
How long will it take to break through the 10,000 mark?
You can read more about the detail of the FTSE growth in this interesting article from IFA Magazine.
