iHowz call on Government to release MEES requirements
It is nearly 17 months since the Government’s consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes closed.
On Friday, 29 April 2022, iHowz landlord association wrote to Kwasi Kwateng, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), to push for the publication of the findings of the EPC consultation together with the proposed changes to MEES (Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards).
The letter is as follows:
Dear Minister,
Further to our letter of August 29th 2021, and your reply dated September 27th 2021 (both attached), we would still be pleased to know when it is proposed to publish the outcome of the consultation into a revised Minimum Efficiency Standards (MEES).
We also feel that the consultation into EPC’s must also be reported and before any new requirements for MEES are published.
Currently, EPC are driven by saving in cost, consequently, anyone installing a heat pump to replace an old gas boiler, as recommended by the Government, will probably see their EPC rating drop. This potentially could lead to properties not being able to be let under MEES rules.
This is clearly a contradiction, and one we feel urgently requires resolving.
Many landlords are unable/unwilling to carry out energy efficiency measures as they do not know:
– whether focus is on carbon or money savings
– when the current bias towards gas will switch towards electricity
– what the investment cap will be
The measures need to consider payback period and a formula should exist to take into account either the property value or expected rent for the area. Without this knowledge, they cannot order the works or raise the finance.
Also, without some funding support, many landlords are selling up and more will do so, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis as displaced tenants will have less supply of rental homes.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Peter Littlewood
for iHowz Landlords Association.
This is the third letter to the Government sent by iHowz pushing for the release of the new required standards. It follows the original letter to Kwasi Kwateng on 29 August 2021, which produced a non-committal response from the BEIS on 27 September 2021,and our chaser to Alok Shama on 7 October 2021.
Landlords are right to expect the BEIS to publish the results of the EPC consultation and MEES requirements, so they can have the facts required to make the decisions and take appropriate action.
The government has allowed the press and the PRS to work on the assumption that a minimum EPC of C will be required for new tenancies from 2025 and for all tenancies from 2028, with an increased cost cap of £10,000 per property, but none of this has been confirmed.
Full details of the campaign are available here >>
https://ihowz.uk/the-anticipated-standards-for-the-minimum-energy-efficiency-standards-mees/
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Member Since September 2015 - Comments: 1013
10:01 AM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
“….when the current bias towards gas will switch towards electricity.”
or hydrogen
Member Since September 2015 - Comments: 1013
10:02 AM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
why aren’t the NRLA pressuring the Government?
Member Since September 2015 - Comments: 1013
10:05 AM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
The Government are leaving decisions so late that it’ll be almost impossible to meet the deadline (if end 2025 is still the target) as there won’t be enough contractors to to do the work in the time available!!
Member Since January 2020 - Comments: 1102 - Articles: 1
10:22 AM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
What is the point of pushing government to publish proposals that have not yet been finalised?
Has it not occurred to anyone that under the new regime the department is possibly striving to produce comprehensive proposals rather than taking the piecemeal approach that we have had to tolerate for far too long? The recent report by the public accounts committee gives various clues about what might be going on behind the scenes and if we try to force the issue we are likely to end up with yet more half-baked so called solutions.
Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3483 - Articles: 5
10:42 AM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 04/05/2022 – 10:22
so what is ‘going on behind the scenes’ then? Can you link to this info please so I can take a look…
Member Since January 2020 - Comments: 1102 - Articles: 1
11:45 AM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
Reply to the comment left by DSR at 04/05/2022 – 10:42
I have no idea what is actually going on behind the scenes but if Government have taken on board the criticisms and recommendations in these two reports they just might be trying to co-ordinate measures across departments and produce a coherent overall strategy.
https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Regulation-of-private-renting.pdf
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/9608/documents/163793/default/
Member Since August 2021 - Comments: 307 - Articles: 1
12:49 PM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
Seething, the second link does not seem to work.
Can you check and repost?
Member Since January 2020 - Comments: 1102 - Articles: 1
12:56 PM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Rod at 04/05/2022 – 12:49
It works for me but if not for you, try:
.
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/127/public-accounts-committee/publications/reports-responses/?SearchTerm=renting&DateFrom=&DateTo=&SessionId=
Member Since March 2015 - Comments: 1969 - Articles: 1
2:11 PM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
Give ’em enough rope!…If the Govt. delay so long that it becomes unreasonable, we Judicial Review their process.
Member Since January 2020 - Comments: 1102 - Articles: 1
2:14 PM, 4th May 2022, About 4 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Seething Landlord at 04/05/2022 – 12:56
For a wider appreciation of how Civil Servants are thinking and what we might expect, read the transcripts of the evidence from witnesses linked on page 16 of the Public Accounts Committee report.