On March31st 2020, the third and final stage of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards(MEES) came in to force. Landlords must not grant a new tenancy (which includesextensions, or renewals) nor continue to let the property after 1st April whereit's EPC rating falls below an E.

Whilstthe MEES' received lots of publicity at the time they were announced, this has wanedsignificantly. It's believed therefore that many properties across England& Wales will fail to meet these 'new' requirements. With the countrynow in lock-down, it's unlikely that any breaches will be rectified.

It hasbeen clear since the acts implementation that this date was looming, so youragent should have been keeping you up to date and making sure your propertieswere compliant.

TheScottish government has suspended these new regulations in light of theCOVID pandemic, which were due to come in to force in the country on 1stOctober 2020. ARLA have been asked if they would lobby the government todo 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.