MEES Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards

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MEES Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards

I’ve outlined below some of the key points relating to the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for dwellings:

Timetable

  • 1 April 2018 – It will be unlawful to grant new leases of residential or commercial property with an EPC rating below an ‘E’
  • 1 April 2020 – The regulation will expand to apply to ALL residential privately rented property which are required to have an EPC.

It is understood the intention is to make these standards progressive, with an expected rise to a minimum of D by 2025.

Potential penalties

The system will be enforced by Local Authorities, with maxiumum penalties as follows (max penalty per property £5,000)

    • £2,000 for letting a sub-standard property for less than 3 months
    • £4,000 for letting a sub-standard property for more than 3 months
    • £1,000 False information on PRS Exemptions register
    • £2,000 Failing to comply with a compliance notice

Circumstances where a landlord can register for an MEES exemption

  • All relevant energy efficiency improvements carried out and the property remains below an EPC Band E
  • A recommended measure cannot be wholly financed at no cost to the landlord is what it says at the moment, but this likely to be changed to a max cost of £2,500 inc VAT per property following the recent Consultation document
  • Where a certain energy efficiency measure cannot be installed due to its negative impact on the building’s fabric / structure
  • Third party consent cannot be obtained e.g. from tenant, planning permission
  • Installation of certain measures would reduce the properties market value by >5%

Solid wall properties

The EPC software was revised in mid- November 2017 and as part of these changes, the heat loss figures for solid stone and brick wall were improved. This means that on ratings on older properties may have improved, so it is worthwhile getting another EPC done before you do anything else to confirm the current rating of a property.

Listed buildings

The current situation with listed buildings is unclear – listed buildings being exempt from needing an EPC but MEES only exempting recommendations that conflict with the building’s listed status (rather than MEES exempting the building).

Clarification is needed from DCLG – I will post further info as soon as I have it.

 

Landlord guidance documents are here:

https://goo.gl/RGvGci

The PRS exemptions register is here:

https://prsregister.beis.gov.uk/NdsBeisUi/used-service-before

 

Please get in touch if you have further questions.