Rating meaning

During any due diligence, a purchaser should establish whether an energy performance certificate (EPC) and a recommendation report are required, and then confirm that a valid EPC has been provided. In a multi-let building, several EPCs may be needed for different parts of the property. An EPC allows the buyer to assess the building’s energy efficiency. It sets out a rating that can be benchmarked against the average for comparable stock. A poor score may negatively affect the property’s value. A recommendation report must accompany the EPC unless there is no reasonable potential to improve performance against the energy standards currently in force. However, owners are not legally obliged to follow the recommendations. See our Overviews: Energy performance certificates and minimum energy efficiency requirements (MEES)—overview and Energy and renewable apparatus in buildings—overview, and our Practice Notes: Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—what are they and when are they required? and Energy performance certificates (EPCs)—issues for commercial landlords and tenants. Do the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations...

For further details on the documents outlined below, please refer to Practice Note: Issuing debt securities—key documentation. Appointment of the arranger The issuer (Issuer) designates an arranger (Arranger) to set up the programme. The Arranger may additionally serve as a dealer or manager for later note issues under the programme. Responsibility —Issuer and Arranger. Appointment of the dealers The dealer(s) (Dealers) will enter into a dealer agreement with the Issuer and the Arranger. For a syndicated issue, the Dealers and the Issuer may also sign a subscription agreement. New dealers may be added to the programme after launch via a dealer accession letter. Responsibility —Dealers, Arranger and the Issuer. Appointment of the agents The Issuer will appoint agents to act on its behalf for the programme. These may include a fiscal agent (Fiscal Agent) or a trustee (appointed by the Issuer to represent the interests of the noteholders),...

Quick reference checklist This quick-reference checklist helps you calculate whether a proposed salary for an employee to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker route meets the relevant pay thresholds for eligibility (the general threshold and the going rate). Specifically, it sets out the formulae needed for the required pro-rating calculations when assessing an offer. There are three steps to establishing eligibility: Step 1 — determine the applicable general salary threshold and the going rate. This aspect is not covered here. For guidance, see the tables in Practice Note: Skilled Worker—salary and skill level eligibility tables. Step 2 — gather the relevant information to feed into the calculations. Step 3 — carry out the necessary calculations to verify eligibility. An example is used throughout: an Aerospace engineer (SOC 2020 occupation code 2126), who has not previously been sponsored under this route, would be paid an annual salary of £60,000, and would work a cycle of 52 hours per week for three...

In this issue Working time and flexible working Pay Tax Prohibited conduct (discrimination etc) Employment tribunal equality claims Diversity and gender pay gap Industrial action Unfair dismissal Employment tribunals Immigration Northern Ireland ESG and sustainability: employment issues Daily and weekly news alerts Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Working time and flexible working Code of Practice (Requests for Flexible Working) Order 2024 (SI 2024/429): The Order designates 6 April 2024 as the date on which the updated Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working, issued by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) under section 199 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992), takes effect. It also clarifies that the revised Code does not cover applications for flexible working made under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) that are lodged on or before 5 April 2024;...

In this issue: Horizon scanning Worker status and categories Immigration Pay Remuneration Taxation Diversity and the gender pay gap Maternity, parents and carers Whistleblowing Data protection and staff information Confidentiality, obligations and restrictions: enforcement Financial services and banking: employment matters Bribery, modern slavery, tax evasion and fraud Issues arising on termination Employment Tribunals Civil courts and alternative dispute resolution Dates for your diary Trackers Employment resources on Lexis+® LexTalk® Employment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Horizon scanning Updated Employment Rights Bill to be considered by the House of Lords The updated Employment Rights Bill (ERB), transmitted from the House of Commons to the House of Lords, was issued on 14 March 2025. Its second reading in the House of Lords is scheduled for 27 March 2025...

HMRC v Innovative Bites Ltd [2024] UKUT 95 (TCC) VATA 1994, Sch 8, Group 1 sets a zero rating for VAT on food, while identifying excepted items taxed at the standard rate. Excepted Item 2 states: ‘Confectionery, not including cakes or biscuits other than biscuits wholly or partly covered with chocolate or some product similar in taste and appearance.’ The central question for the UT in HMRC v Innovative Bites Ltd [2024] UKUT 95 (TCC) was whether the product came within Excepted Item 2, which required an assessment of how that provision interacts with Note 5 to the legislation. Note 5 provides that the term ‘confectionery’ in Excepted Item 2 ‘includes chocolates, sweets and biscuits; drained, glacé or crystallised fruits; and any item of sweetened prepared food which is normally eaten with the fingers’. This interpretive exercise framed the tribunal’s analysis in the appeal...

This Practice Note looks at Term Loan B (TLB) facilities, which often feature as a senior tranche within syndicated loans in leveraged financings. TLBs are long-established in the US market and are increasingly seen in the European lending market for institutional investors. It examines the structure of a typical TLB and how it diverges from traditional European leveraged loans, before setting out the key features. This Practice Note assumes some understanding of leveraged finance. For introductory information, see: Introductory guide to acquisition finance. For explanations of common terms, see Practice Note: Glossary of acquisition finance terms and jargon. What is a Term Loan B? In lending markets, ‘Term Loan B’ or ‘TLB’ (short for Term Loan Bullet) describes a tranche of senior secured credit facilities made available to a borrower and intended to be syndicated in the institutional loan market. They are usually floating-rate term facilities with an actual or implied non-investment grade rating, a five to seven year maturity and either nominal amortisation of 1% per annum...

This Practice Note outlines how the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (MEES Regs 2015), SI 2015/962, affect both landlords and tenants of non-domestic private rented (NDPR) property. It explores the interface between the MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962 and the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954), considers challenges for landlords and tenants when subletting NDPR premises that are substandard, examines points arising for a landlord with a consent exemption on assignment, highlights due diligence considerations, and flags issues in real estate finance transactions where the asset is substandard (that is, holds an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of ‘F’ or ‘G’). It forms part of our Practical Notes series on minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES). Under MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, reg 27, a landlord must not let substandard NDPR property unless: 'relevant energy efficiency improvements' have been carried out (MEES Regs 2015, SI 2015/962, reg 29); or an exemption applies (consent, devaluation or temporary exemptions). ...

What are investment-grade, high yield and crossover bonds? Investment grade (IG) bonds are debt instruments that hold an IG credit rating: BBB and above on the S&P and Fitch scales, and Baa3 and above on the Moody’s scale (for further detail on credit ratings, see Practice Note: Credit ratings). IG issuers are usually sizeable blue‑chip corporates—well‑known, well‑established and well‑capitalised—and are often companies with shares listed on a major stock exchange. Aside from sovereign bonds of developed markets, IG securities are widely regarded as among the safest income‑generating investments. As a consequence of this perceived safety, IG bonds tend to offer lower yields than high yield (HY) bonds. Many institutional investors and pension schemes operate policies and mandates that constrain their bond holdings to assets with, on average, lower default risk, such as IG instruments or government obligations. In broad terms, HY bonds encompass all bonds from issuers rated below IG. HY issuers may include public companies that lack (or previously had but later lost) an IG rating, private companies...

1 General Employee’s name [ insert name ] Manual handling activities reviewed [ insert, eg collecting and delivering mail, boxing up files for storage or litigation bundles ] Roles involved [ insert details ] Location [ insert location ] Assessed by [ insert name ] Is it possible to carry out the job without any manual handling? ☐ Yes ☐ No Is a risk assessment required?...

Performance appraisal and personal development plan—L&D team member Name [ Insert appraisee’s name ] Current manager [ Insert appraiser’s name ] Role/title [ Insert appraisee’s job title ] Current PDP year [ Insert year ] Department [ Insert appraisee’s department ] Date of appraisal [ Insert date ] Appraisal conducted in person? ☐ Yes ☐ No Aim of the meeting To explore your personal ambitions To share feedback on your performance level To map out your future with us, ensuring we support your career development To define and agree objectives that align with the firm’s strategic aims What the meeting will cover Part 1: Progress against personal objectives Part 2: Performance against core skills Part 3: Overall performance evaluation Part 4: Future aspirations Part 5: Future personal objectives Part 6: Personal development plan Preparation for appraisal meeting ...

Name [ Insert appraisee’s name ] Present manager [ Insert appraiser’s name ] Position/title [ Insert appraisee’s job title ] PDP year (current) [ Insert year ] Department [ Insert appraisee’s department ] Appraisal date [ Insert date ] Was the appraisal held in person? ☐ Yes ☐ No Aim of the meeting To explore your individual ambitions To offer feedback on your level of performance To map out your future with us, ensuring we support your career development To define and agree goals aligned with the firm’s strategic aims What the meeting will cover Part 1: Performance versus personal objectives Part 2: Performance in relation to core skills Part 3: Overall performance assessment Part 4: Future aspirations Part 5: Forthcoming personal objectives Part 6: Personal development plan Preparation for appraisal meeting Please review and complete sections 1 to 4 ahead of...

This Q&A presumes the beverages are not provided as part of catering. The Value Added Tax Act 1994 (VATA 1994) sets out the UK’s value added tax (VAT) framework. For broader guidance on VAT, consult Practice Notes: What is VAT?, When does VAT apply? and When can a person recover VAT? Zero-rated supplies A zero-rated supply still counts as a taxable supply, despite no VAT being levied on it. Accordingly, it differs from a VAT-exempt supply in VAT terms...

Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—granting Under section 21A of the Housing Act 1988 (HA 1988), a notice under HA 1988, s 21 may not be given in relation to a dwelling house in England let on an assured shorthold tenancy if the landlord has failed to meet the prescribed requirements. Those requirements are contained in the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Notices and Prescribed Requirements (England) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/1646, and in regulation 6(5) of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/3118. At present, as things stand, these instruments do not impose any obligation that a property attains a specified EPC rating before a section 21 notice can be served. For more detail, consult Practice Note: Assured and assured shorthold tenancies—granting and Commentary: When a landlord cannot give a s 21 notice: prescribed requirements (England): Claims to the Possession of Land [C3.68]...

Is an EPC required on lease renewal for a domestic property? An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) assigns a dwelling an energy efficiency band from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). The rating comes from a detailed calculation that considers multiple elements, including the property’s age and type, how it is built, and its insulation and heating systems. The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (EPB Regs 2012), SI 2012/3118, reg 6, provide, subject to specified exemptions, that an EPC must be made available to a tenant when a building is let. This requirement took effect on 9 January 2013. Despite EPB Regs 2012, SI 2012/3118, reg 6, current Government guidance on Energy Performance Certificates for the marketing, sale and let of dwellings states that an EPC is not needed for a lease renewal or an extension. That said, where the renewal is an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) granted after 1 October 2015, the landlord must have supplied the tenant with an EPC before...