You could easily be forgiven for missing the announcement back in 2021 that the regulations surrounding the installation of electric car points on new residential builds and major renovations of commercial property would soon be changing.
As a commercial property portfolio owner / manager, what you now need to be aware of is that all new homes, workplaces, supermarkets and properties undergoing major renovation will be required to install electric vehicle charge points from next year (2022), under new legislation announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
England will be world leaders in mandating such building regulations. With this change the government expects up to 145,000 points to be installed across the country each year in the run up to the ending, in the UK, of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030. The installation of charge points will create jobs across the country in the green economy.
Whilst it is expected that the majority of charging will happen at home businesses investors, Boards of Directors, commercial property portfolio owners and managers need to be thinking now about how this change could affect their business models.
By way of example, we would ask who would ever have thought that a relatively unknown virus would result in a shortage of critical technology halting the production of cars or that it would result in a shortage of cardboard for packaging? Investors seeking returns; Boards and anyone with responsibility for managing commercial property portfolios need to think about the wider implications of this change.
Would the availability of charge points impact upon the value of the asset; will a lack of charge points impact HR recruitment?
Could the lack of enough charge points in your business create a single point of business failure? What if you run a van-based logistics / distribution business…?
Do your drivers charge the company van at home or at work? What are the tax and hidden cost implications for cash flow?
If you want to be sure of the situation and would like to chat with our property portfolio management team in light of proposed legislation, please email me at bankie@projectsure.co.uk
