Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)

Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) are the legal rules that stop landlords in England letting out homes that are below energy standards. For most domestic private rented properties that require an EPC and are let on an assured, regulated or domestic agricultural tenancy, you must not let, or continue to let, a property with an EPC rating below band E unless a valid exemption is registered on the official PRS Exemptions Register.

In practice this means you are expected to identify cost-effective energy improvements spend up to the relevant cost cap, and either raise the rating to at least E or record a lawful exemption with evidence. For example insulation, more efficient heating or glazing. Local authorities can enforce MEES, including by serving notices and imposing financial penalties for non-compliance.

Policy is now shifting further. Under the Warm Homes / net-zero agenda, and alongside the Renters’ Rights Act rental standards regime, government proposals would raise the MEES threshold to EPC band C by 2030, with earlier deadlines for new tenancies and a spending cap per property. In the new framework, failing to meet MEES may not only attract fines, but could also affect your ability to lawfully advertise or let a property, register it on the PRS Database, or rely on certain possession grounds.

For professional landlords, MEES is therefore a core compliance issue and a planning tool for phased upgrades across the portfolio, not an optional “green extra”.