CSE has published a new report looking at how laws requiring landlords of privately rented homes and non-domestic buildings to bring properties up to minimum standards for energy efficiency can be effectively enforced.

Download ‘Compliance & enforcement of the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) in the private rented sector’ here.

Privately rented homes and non-domestic buildings are required through the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) regulations to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E or above.

EPCs rate a building’s energy performance from A to G, with A being the most energy efficient and G the least. It’s the responsibility of local authorities to enforce this, and a range of councils were closely involved in the study which was undertaken on behalf of the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

You can read the background to the study here.

Bringing UK rented homes up to standard is critical to both cutting carbon emissions and ensuring that renters have affordable bills. This is particularly critical in the current energy crisis.

Martin Holley, from CSE, was the lead author on the report

CSE acted as project coordinator to oversee the work and function as the main contact between BEIS and the pilot local authorities. We also compiled example resources and drafted case studies to generate format and content for a draft MEES compliance and enforcement toolkit for the private rented sector.

This study, which was conducted 2018-20, aimed to understand more about:

• The design of systems to collect data on which privately rented properties have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of F or G, and identifying the landlords of these homes. 
• Team structures and process architecture of the bodies within local councils whose responsibility it is to do this.
• Pro-active and innovative ways of engaging with landlords and other stakeholders to promote awareness of the regulations and to encourage compliance.

Local authorities involved

The local authorities taking part were Cambridge, Peterborough, Eden, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Cornwall and Oxford, with the latter four looking at the enforcement of the regulations within the non-domestic private rental sector as well as the domestic.

Extensive change is needed to tackle the climate emergency. A greener, smarter and fairer energy system is a big part of this and everyone has to be involved. We need to embrace changes that are being introduced locally and nationally to achieve net zero.