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COLBURN
5 & 6 BAILEY COURT
COLBURN BUSINESS PARK
RICHMOND
NORTH YORKSHIRE
DL9 4QL
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Residential Management Team
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As a reminder, the deadline of 1st April 2018 has now passed, therefore, Landlords are legally required to comply with the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards.
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) were introduced by the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 in March 2015.
What does this mean for Landlords?
If you have a domestic property which has an Energy Performance Certificate with a band below an ‘E’ rating then you will not be allowed to let your property if it is:
If the EPC indicator is a band ‘F’ or ‘G’ then the Landlord will be required to make relevant energy efficiency improvements to bring the Energy Performance to an ‘E’ or above.
If the EPC rating is still below an ‘E’ rating after the landlord making the relevant improvements that can be made to the property, then they can apply for an exemption which must be registered on the National PRS Exemption Register.
Other exemptions are available:
When are EPC’s not required and you are outside scope of the MEES?
The majority of exemptions are available for 5 years however, if the property is sold during this period then the exemptions would not be transferred.
What are the risks?
If the Landlord is found to be in breach they can be subject to a financial penalty enforced by the Local Authority, who determine the amount as well as a potential publication penalty.
The caps on individual penalties are:
A total cap of £5,000 applies where there are a combination of breaches.
How do you know if your property has a valid EPC certificate?
A EPC is only valid for a period of 10 years once it is lodged on the EPC Register. After the expiry of this term, a new assessment will need to be undertaken by an accredited Energy Performance Assessor if there is to be a new tenant or the property is to be sold.
To check your properties EPC rating, you can use the properties postcode on the EPC Register website.
Planning for the future
As from 1st April 2020, all domestic properties with existing tenancies will need to satisfy the requirement of having an EPC rating above an ‘E’ or have a valid exemption. Non-domestic properties will need to satisfy the MEES by April 2023. These deadlines will approach quickly as the 2018 deadline did and therefore when undertaking works to properties the Energy Performance of the property should be kept in mind throughout.
In addition, the Government have previously declared their proposals to raise the standards further, lifting the bands to Band D by 2025, and Band C by 2030.
The Government guidance can be found here.
[team-member name=”Helen Simpson”]