Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard Regulations (MEES)

Alongside the MEES regulations, we also enforce minimum housing standards in the private rented sector using the HHSRS. This also applies where properties are exempt from the MEES regulations.

This means that even if a property meets an EPC rating of E, landlords still need to provide adequate heating and thermal comfort. Penalties of up to £30,000 can be issued where hazards such as excess cold are identified in a property.

Further information about HHSRS can be found on our Housing Health and Safety Rating System webpage.

The EPC will show recommended measures to improve the property’s energy performance and may include:

• boiler renewal
• installation of radiator thermostats
• upgrade and install of loft insulation
• install of cavity wall insulation
• install of energy efficient light bulbs

Further information on potential energy efficiency measures to meet the requirements and help to decide on which measures to install can be found on the governments selecting energy efficiency measures webpage.

Landlords

Landlords can find more help and advice about the regulations and making improvements from National Residential Landlords Association.

The Simple Energy Advice website has a useful tool to find out your obligations for any property you are letting. A PDF with guidance [pdf] 1.83MB is also available.

Tenants

You may be able to get help to fund home improvements to your property. There are several grants available to households on a low income.

For more information on these grants and other energy efficiency support and advice please visit our energy efficiency page 

The following websites also offer free help and advice:

• The Energy Saving Trust has lots of helpful energy saving advice and tips
• Better Housing Better Health can advise on reducing energy bills and what grants and financial assistance is available. Their helpline is 0800 107 0044
• Warmer Sussex can provide tailored energy advice
• The government backed Simple Energy Advice website has specific advice when entering property details. As well as having helpful Information for landlords they can also suggest home improvements for tenants.

If the property is still below EPC E after improvements have been made up to the cost cap of £3500 inc VAT, or there are no improvements that can be made. This exemption lasts 5 years.

If you have made any energy efficiency improvements to your property since 1 October 2017 you can include the cost of those improvements within the £3500 cost cap.

If no improvement can be made because the cost of installing even the cheapest recommended measure would exceed the cost cap of £3500 inc VAT. This exemption lasts 5 years.

You can apply for this exemption if the only relevant improvements for your property are cavity wall insulation, external wall insulation or internal wall insulation (for external walls) and you have obtained written expert advice showing that these measures would negatively impact the fabric or structure of the property. This exemption lasts 5 years.

If the improvements for your property need consent from another party, such as a freeholder, mortgagee, planning department, tenant or superior landlord and despite your best efforts that consent cannot be obtained or is given subject to conditions you could not reasonably comply with. This exemption lasts 5 years.

If you have evidence that making energy efficiency improvements to your property would devalue it by more than 5%. This exemption lasts 5 years.

If you have recently become a landlord, under certain circumstances, you will not be expected to take immediate action to improve your property to EPC E. This exemption lasts for 6 months from the date you became a landlord.

This exemption only applies to non-domestic properties where relevant energy efficiency improvements will only be required if they achieve a payback within 7 years. The government has created a formula to calculate this which you can read more about here: Non-domestic private rented property: MEES - landlord guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Historic buildings, listed buildings or buildings within a conservation area are exempt if:

• compliance with the minimum energy requirements would unacceptably alter their character or appearance

This is not a blanket exemption. If a building is protected it may still be possible to make improvements. This is only possible where the character or appearance is not altered.

Unacceptable alterations in most protected buildings would be:

• double glazing
• new doors and windows
• external wall insulation
• external boiler flues

There are many more low impact measures that may be acceptable. It is the owner’s responsibility to understand which works may or may not be permitted on their property.

When applying for an exemption, owners will need evidence of the following:

• all recommended measures on their EPC would unacceptably alter the character or appearance of the building
• that none of the recommended measures could have been carried out, to improve the energy efficiency of the building.

You can find further information from Historic England.

We also recommend that you get advice from our planning  department and apply for planning permission where necessary.

Where an EPC is required for an HMO and is currently rated as F or G, a condition is added to the HMO licence to ensure a new EPC is obtained to show compliance.

This is in line with legal requirements and to protect tenants from the hazards associated with cold, hard to heat homes.

Some HMOs are not required to have an EPC, for example those that have not been sold or let as a single rental in the previous 10 years.

For more information about EPCs for HMOs see the National HMO Network website.