Client focus: Rix & Kay Solicitors LLP
Commercial property law experts Rix & Kay Solicitors LLP discuss the future of green leases
The commercial property team at Rix & Kay Solicitors LLP know a thing or two about law concerning commercial properties and have assisted many Help Moving Office clients with tying up the legalities of their workplace relocations. They have recently released an article on the incidence of green leases and the effect they will have on the commercial marketplace.
Green provisions and elements in office leases can include:
- Data sharing whereby office tenants can share information regarding energy usage and waste disposal with their landlords in a bid to improve the environmental efficiency of their office.
- Tenants agreeing to obligations that their property will be fitted out with sustainable materials where possible if updated or altered using eco-friendly materials.
- Issuing of an Energy Performance Certificate which stipulates that the tenant shouldn’t make alterations to the premises that would detrimentally affect the energy rating of the certification.
As members of the Legal Sector Alliance, Rix & Kay Solicitors LLP are very much concerned with green issues and how they are set to change the course of future commercial property law for owners and tenants. They understand that not only will the use of greener, more energy efficient buildings reduce costs of the premises in the long run but recent legislation ensures that larger companies with high energy usage will be liable to penalties should they fail to reduce their carbon footprint sufficiently.
The incidence of ‘dark’, ‘medium’ and ‘light’ green leases will represent a scale of implementation of green policies, with dark placing penalties for breaches of green compliance while medium and light will decrease in weight accordingly.
