On March 31st 2020, the third and final stage of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) came into force. Landlords must not grant a new tenancy (which includes extensions, or renewals) nor continue to let the property after 1st April where its EPC rating falls below an E.
Whilst the MEES’ received lots of publicity at the time they were announced, this has waned significantly. It’s believed therefore that many properties across England& Wales will fail to meet these ‘new’ requirements. With the country now in lock-down, it’s unlikely that any breaches will be rectified.
It has been clear since the implementation of the act that this date was looming, so your agent should have been keeping you up to date and making sure your properties were compliant.
The Scottish government has suspended these new regulations in light of the COVID pandemic, which were due to come into force in the country on 1st October 2020. ARLA has been asked if they would lobby the government to do the same in England & Wales.
In a statement, David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark said “Although we have asked the Government to postpone these regulations in England, it’s unlikely they will do so. This is because the law was passed in 2014, meaning landlords and letting agents have had several years to meet this deadline. This, however, is very different to the electrical safety regulations which were passed last week and come into force in July, which we are lobbying the Government to postpone, as landlords and letting agents haven’t had as much time to meet these requirements.”
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about regulation you can arrange a quick call with me here.