Category: Housing and Energy

This blog post is by one of our members, Sam Powell, who is also one of our Eastbourne Energy Champions:

Why Do Councils Fail to Enforce Energy Standards in Rental Homes Despite Having the Power to Do So?

MEES and EPC Consultations: Change in the Rented Sector?

The UK government is consulting on significant MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard) and EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) changes, including new low-carbon EPC metrics, a proposed minimum rating of C for rented properties, and a higher landlord ‘cash cap’ for improvement costs. These reforms aim to raise energy standards in private and social rented housing, targeting fuel poverty and incentivising low-carbon energy efficient options.

The government ‘guidance’ on MEES states, “MEES Regulations are enforced by local authorities, who have a range of powers to check and ensure compliance.” The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (PRP Regulations 2015 from now on) require a minimum rating of EPC E for the rented sector. However, according to Climate Emergency UK (CE UK), three-quarters of single-tier and district/borough councils were not actively enforcing MEES in 2021-2022.

Will these proposed reforms shift the dynamics between councils, landlords and tenants concerning energy efficiency and fuel poverty? And can tighter standards make a real difference in the rented sector?

EPCs, MEES, and the 2025 Reform Push

EPCs were introduced in 2007 as part of the now-defunct Home Information Packs (HIPs) under Part 5 of the Housing Act 2004. Initially required only for homes with four or more bedrooms being marketed for sale, the scheme was gradually extended to smaller properties and, from 1 October 2008, to all rental properties. This broader rollout drew from the EU’s 2002 (but published in 2003) Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), later transposed into UK law through the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012.

According to the Office for National Statistics, “just over 69% of all residential dwellings in England, and 66% in Wales, had at least one EPC registration since records began in 2007, as of March 2024.” They are currently valid for 10 years and rate a property’s energy efficiency from A (most efficient) to G (least). The measurement is, as a government guide states, “based on the performance potential of the building itself (the fabric) and its services (such as heating, insulation, ventilation and fuels used).” EPCs are designed to inform landlords and tenants about a home’s energy performance and how to improve it, tackling both emissions (as homes in 2022 produced roughly 20% of greenhouse gases according to a 2024 gov report) and fuel poverty.

MEES legislation, introduced via the PRP Regulations 2015, requires landlords in the Private Rented Sector (PRS) to meet a minimum EPC rating to let out a property legally. Since 2018, all new tenancies have required an EPC E rating or higher, and from April 2020, this rule has applied to all tenancies.

Yet, in practice, MEES enforcement from local authorities has been patchy since its introduction and the reliability of EPC ratings in both the domestic and non-domestic spheres has come under debate (Yuan and Choudhary, 2023 and recent debates). 

MEES compliance is based heavily on the EPC’s Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) metric, “which grades buildings on the basis of running costs”, the consultation clarifies, as well as an Environment Impact Rating (EIR) measuring carbon dioxide emissions. However, this could change. As part of the government’s 2025 MEES consultation, ‘Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes’- closing on 2 May 2025 – there are proposals to overhaul the methodology utilising the policy consulted in the recently closed EPC consultation. The two consultations work in a policy synergy.

In the EPC consultation, amongst other aspects consulted, like reducing the validity period length of EPCs, the government proposed EPCs to reflect actual building low carbon performance more accurately. They propose new metrics measuring ‘energy cost’, ‘carbon’, ‘energy use’, ‘fabric performance’, ‘heating system’, and ‘smart readiness’, alongside possible ‘other metrics’ in the future. The new eco-performance-based metric system seeks to influence MEES compliance along low-carbon lines. 

As the Climate Change Committee (CCC) have argued, “Currently the EER metric does not adequately incentivise homeowners to install fabric efficiency measures. The cheapest and easiest way to improve a home’s EER is often to fit a more efficient fossil fuel boiler (which reduces fuel consumption) or install solar PV (which reduces or offsets electricity consumption).” As the MEES consultation notes, “given the higher cost of electricity relative to gas, installing an electric heating component, such as a heat pump, may result in higher estimated running costs and a lower EPC rating, without additional cost-saving measures such as improved fabric and smart technologies.” The government hopes to replace the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) with a ‘Home Energy Model’ to encourage low-carbon energy efficiency. 

The new MEES consultation also suggests a major tightening of standards:

• All new tenancies would need to meet EPC C by 2028
• All existing tenancies by 2030

This could affect a significant portion of the housing stock: Approximately 2.58 million (52%), half of all rental properties, have an EPC below C. According to CE UK’s 2023 scorecards, 71% of “council owned social housing” meets EPC C or above, but only 43% of UK homes overall. Yet, other reports, like the 2025 ‘Energy Efficiency of Homes’ document from the government, state that 52% of all homes do. 

Government statistics also show that In Q1 of 2024, 36% of “existing dwellings” in England and Wales had an EER rated D and 8% rated E (figure 1). However, the proposed MEES legislation only applies to rented homes, either social or private, and the consultation states that EPCs rated C or above, issued before the future planned EPC reforms in 2026, will remain valid until they expire under existing rules.

To support compliance, and amongst other consulted issues, the MEES consultation proposes:

• Raising the landlord’s “cash cap” for improvements from £3,500 to £15,000 (or £10,000 for “affordability exemptions”) to cover the ‘real costs’
• Requiring updated EPCs when the current ones expire
• New EPC methodology
• Increasing fines from £5,000 to £30,000 per property

These proposed changes are part of a potential broader suite of reforms like 1) The Renters Rights Bill (currently at the committee stage in the House of Lords), outlined later in the article, and 2) the Environmental Targets (Public Authorities) Bill, attempting to make it a statutory requirement for “public bodies to contribute to [the] delivery of targets set under the Environment Act 2021 and Climate Change Act 2008.” 

If passed, these MEES and EPC changes could represent a significant overhaul of rental energy standards, making enforcement and a council’s ability to act all the more critical. The previous Conservative government proposed these EPC C targets by 2025 for new tenancies and 2028 for existing in the now-shelved Minimum Energy Performance of Buildings (No. 2) Bill tabled in 2021 but benched in 2023. Similar ideas and more are currently on the table.

Conflict

On BBC Breakfast, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband defended the proposed amendments to PRP Regulations 2015  legislation provided power by the Energy Act 2011 (which included the Green Deal) that stated 1 April 2018 as the latest date for regulations (section 43). Miliband cites average upgrade costs of £6,000 (£6,100–£6,800, as stated in the consultation document) needed to bring rented properties up to the newly proposed standard. 

However, the National Residential Landlords Association Chief Executive Ben Beadle argues that some landlords may leave the market or raise rent to pass the potential costs of upgrades onto the tenant, especially in low-yield areas. He stated it would take over 10 years, £20bn for the sector, with grants not covering. Critics say the reforms are overly burdensome and could shrink PRS supply. 

Miliband countered these concerns, citing survey data suggesting tenant support and landlord willingness to upgrade. He said, “I believe, and organisations that represent renters believe, this will benefit renters.”

The Case for MEES Reform

According to Better Housing, Better Health, upgrading a home from EPC E to C could save the tenant £520 a year in energy costs. Homes rated E cost up to £1,208 more annually than the most efficient ones. C-rated homes cost £688 more. Insulation upgrades, double glazing and boiler upgrades can reduce energy bills and emissions, helping households cope with rising energy caps like the 6.4% increase from April–June 2025.

Poor housing efficiency is also a health issue. Cold homes worsen respiratory illness and place pressure on the NHS. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says E–G rated homes are far more likely to result in cold-related illness or fuel poverty.

The Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) seventh carbon budget calls for an EPC C minimum to meet net zero and for heating systems like heat pumps to become more economically “attractive” than gas boilers. The government acknowledges MEES and enforcing landlord obligations as one of CCC’s “top 10 priority actions.” CCC has repeatedly called for governments to review EPC metrics so they are optimised for measuring emission reduction.

Groups like Friends of the Earth and the Centre for Sustainable Energy recommend councils appoint MEES officers to enforce rules and support landlords. These officers could issue notices and penalties, maintain compliance records, and publish data to hold landlords publicly accountable, but more importantly, work with landlords.

Why MEES Enforcement Lags

According to CE UK’s 2023 scorecards, only three district or borough councils out of the 164 asked, South Derbyshire, Thanet, and West Lindsey, enforced MEES in over 100 homes between  2021/22. 119 took no action, and 42 issued between “1-100 compliance or enforcement notices…”. In 2021–22, three-quarters of single-tier and district/borough councils were not actively enforcing MEES. 

Although the forthcoming 2025 CE UK scorecards might paint a slightly improved picture regarding MEES enforcement, unsurprisingly, a key reason given by councils when CMS law did their research in 2023 appears to be resourcing. Due to budget constraints, Richmond and Wandsworth Councils said that MEES isn’t a priority. Merton Council, which shares regulatory services with these boroughs, only recently advertised for a MEES officer, showing a change. Worcestershire similarly cited cuts to its small trading standards team. As CMS law noted, there’s been a 25% decrease in trading standards inspectors from 2014 – 2024 and a 32% decrease in trading standards budgets from 2010 – 2019. 

One way MEES enforcement costs could be countered is by recovering unpaid financial MEES penalties as debt owed to the enforcement authority, a process enabled by the PRP regulations 2015 (part 3, 45). Another is to recoup any penalties. However, many councils lack ringfenced funding or political will to set the project up to outline all properties EPC and hire an enforcer, keeping MEES low on the agenda.

How Eastbourne Borough Council Performs on MEES Enforcement

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) show a median EPC rating of C for Eastbourne. However, a closer look at the government’s EPC database reveals properties with expired or F-rated EPCs (although further clarification is needed to show if they are in the rented sector). Median figures can hide housing disparities – older buildings, HMOs, and low-income areas tend to have poorer energy standards.

CE UK gave Eastbourne Borough Council (EBC) zero points for MEES enforcement on the 2023 scorecards. Freedom of Information (FOI) data was used to answer Q1.8 of the scorecard’s “Buildings and Heating” section, asking whether councils actively enforce MEES, and showed no notices or penalties issued by EBC. The council also scored just 1 out of 3 points for EPC C coverage, suggesting only 50–60% of homes and buildings meet EPC C. Higher points were available for 60%+ and 90%+ coverage. 

Other areas in which EBC were marked down on at the time of scoring (but has made some progress on since) included retrofit progress on council-owned buildings, fully costed council-housing retrofit plans, powering council operations by renewable energy and an increase in the efficiency of its council housing stock. EBC scored 64% overall in the Buildings and Heating section.

According to available data, EBC is the landlord of 3,441 council homes (Housing Ombudsman 2023-24). Out of the town’s roughly 45,609 homes, around 18,061 homes in Eastbourne are rented, according to the 2021 census. 13% are ‘social rented’, and 26.6% are ‘private rented’, totalling 39.6%. Based on the current EER ratings, 2.8% of all ‘existing and new’ properties in England and Wales (Q1 2024) fall below E. This potentially means 1277 properties in Eastbourne, and 39.6%  of those (505) equating to the private rented sector. If approximately half the rented sector is currently below C, then that would possibly include roughly 9,030 properties potentially needing improvement in Eastbourne if the law changes. However, applying these national-based formulas likely obscures Eastbourne’s actual figure due to housing stock differences between national and local statistics – something a MEES officer could clarify.

In council documents, EBC and its councillors have stated that they wish to improve the private rented sector. Under the ‘Housing and Energy’ and ‘Energy Efficiency’ sections of their website, they list services, like the Warm Home Check Service (via East Sussex County Council (ESCC)) and the Home Upgrade Grant (phase 2), providing a consortium bid EBC was a part of with a ringfenced £2.9 million (announced 22 March 2023) a scheme which ended 31 March 2025. EBC acknowledges MEES on their website and talks about energy efficiency in their preparation documents for the new, improved Local Plan, which will be forthcoming later this year as stated in the recent Eastbourne Local Development Scheme plans. 

In their 2024 annual report, in the “Improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and lower bills” section, EBC states, “Annual targets for 2024 have been achieved in the last year of the current contract. Number of Warm and Well Helpline cases supported, number of Warm Home Check visit assessments completed & % of WHC clients receiving a major heating or insulation measure funded by ECO or grant.” EBC also cites how ESCC are seeking to, from April 2025, “offer a single-point-of-contact home energy efficiency and fuel poverty reduction advice and signposting service for anyone in East Sussex living in a cold home.” 

EBC seems to be partly taking the lead from ESCC and national services regarding energy efficiency advice services. Nationally, the government has promoted schemes like ECO4, The HUG, The Local Grant, zero-VAT insulation, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, offering £7,500 to transition to “low carbon heating systems including heat pumps and biomass boiler.” These changes comprise the government’s broader plans within the Warm Homes Plan, Future Homes Standard, the creation of Great British Energy, and the Climate and Nature Bill.

Reactive and Proactive Approaches

Despite the buildings and heating progress EBC has made in their decarbonisation project, surveying their stock and solar projects and so on, outlined in their annual reports since 2020 and prior documents, it appears that EBC and other councils have taken a fairly reactive approach to MEES, offering services and waiting for private tenants or landlords to come forward. This is evidenced more sharply by other councils, like North East Lincolnshire Council, which told CMS law, “the authority reacts to complaints received.”

By contrast, Wealden District Council appointed a MEES officer who provides direct landlord contact and exemption guidance. Other councils are also hiring MEES officers, which could be reflected in the national update on the CE UK scorecards forthcoming in June 2025.

One problem with reactive enforcement is that tenants in vulnerable situations may fear eviction or rent increases if they report poor conditions. This is especially problematic while Section 21 no-fault evictions remain legal, despite government pledges to ban them in the Renters Rights Bill. 82% of 208 councils approached by CMS Law in 2023 said they take an “intelligence-led approach” in reacting to complaints.

A Note on the Renters Rights Bill

Although MEES was the central topic of this article. It’s hard not to mention that running alongside MEES reform is the Renters Rights Bill (2025). These proposed changes combined could significantly change the housing and energy sectors. Amongst other things, the bill proposes:

• Ban Section 21 “no-fault” evictions

• Cap rent increases at one per year under Section 13 rules
• Apply the Decent Homes Standard to the PRS
• Apply Awaabs’s law to the PRS to address health hazards like mould and damp within timeframes
• Introduce a PRS property database and ombudsman
• Ban bidding wars and DSS discrimination

Conclusion

MEES remains a crucial but underused tool as the UK targets net-zero and better housing standards. Councils hold the power but often lack the capacity, funding, or political will to act decisively. 

EBC has made environmentally friendly building and heating decisions but has lagged in MEES enforcement. As stricter thresholds loom, councils may need to boost their MEES response, especially in areas with older housing and large PRS sectors.

Clear national guidance, local resources, and strong tenant protections will be key. Monitoring local outcomes as new policy unfolds will show what truly works.

What Can Be Done Now?

If funding allowed, EBC could take five realistic steps:

• Appoint a MEES Officer – reallocate staff or use grants to create the role
• Publish Annual MEES and EPC Data – track progress and improve targeting
• Engage Landlords Proactively – briefings, plain-language guidance, webinar support
• Embed MEES in the forthcoming Local Plan – integrate enforcement into future policy
• Empower Tenants – offer advice, grant knowledge, and support networks, which councils do under the current reactive approach. 

Generally, a successful proactive approach adopted by councils nationwide will significantly impact the dual problem of fuel poverty and emission reductions.

Have your say on the MEES consultation before 2 May 2025; the survey is accessible here.