Upload
others
View
2
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Minimum Energy Efficiency
Standards – new strategy for tackling
cold homes
Ian Wright
Environmental Health Service Manager
Content
• MEES – the regulations & their pros and cons
• The Oxford approach to cold homes
– Non-HMO PRS
– HMO Licensing
The domestic PRS Minimum
Standard – legal framework
• 2011 Energy Act – gave powers to introduce a
minimum standard in the PRS
• March 2015 - The Energy Efficiency (Private
Rented Property) (England and Wales)
Regulations 2015 made.
• Come into force from April 2018
• Applies to domestic and non-domestic sectors.
The Domestic PRS Minimum
Standard
• From April 2018 privately rented properties in
England and Wales will need to reach a minimum
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E
before they can be let
• Landlord’s duty to ensure the property complies
with the regulations.
• Regulations apply to all properties that are:
– legally required to have an EPC, and
– let on an assured, regulated or domestic agricultural tenancy.
Exemptions
• Improvements only required where they can be
made at no cost to the landlord using Green Deal,
Energy Company Obligation (ECO) or third party
grant funding
• Compliance through EPC band E or registering
an exemption where the improvements are not
possible or practical
Trigger points
• Minimum standard will apply in a phased manner:
– New tenancies (to new or existing tenants) from 1 April 2018
(“soft start”);
– All domestic tenancies (even where there has been no change
in tenancy) – from 1 April 2020 (“backstop”), where there is an
EPC.
Enforcement – Compliance Notices
• Can be issued by a LA where they believe that a
landlord may be in breach of the regulations
(currently or during past 12 months);
• Must be in writing (hard copy or electronic);
• Used to request information from the landlord
which will help LA to decide whether that
landlord has in fact breached the prohibition, for
example:
– an EPC;
– the current tenancy agreement;
– any Green Deal Advice Report in relation to the property.
– any other relevant document that the enforcement authority
requires in order to carry out its compliance and enforcement
functions.
Enforcement – Penalty Notices
• Can be issued by an LA where they are satisfied
that a landlord is (or has been in the last 18
months) in breach of the PRS MEES
• Can relate to a financial penalty, a publication
penalty or both
• Maximum penalty of £5k
• Carry a right to appeal for the landlord to General
regulatory Chamber
• If not paid by a landlord, the LA can take the
landlord to court to recover the money.
Penalties
Pros and cons of MEES for LAs
• Cons
– Only applies where an EPC is required – many HMOs are
exempt
– The no cost to landlord exemption severely weakens ability to
require improvements
– In 2 tier authorities EPC enforcement is not a priority for
Trading Standards
• Pros
– Consultation already underway on introducing financial
contributions for landlords
– Penalty notice regime provides opportunity for cost recovery
Oxford - Town & Gown…
• The percentage of households who own their home
is low in Oxford – 47% compared to 63% in
England.
• The percentage of households who rent their home
in the private sector is high – 28% in Oxford
compared with 17% in England
• Private sector renting grew by almost 50%, from
nearly 11,000 households in 2001 to nearly 16,000
households in 2011
Dreaming Spires?
• Oxford is often cited as the least affordable UK
city
• 17 super output areas that are in the 25% most
deprived in the country
• In 2014, 6840 Oxford households (11.9%) were
estimated to be in fuel poverty, which is above
both the national average (10%) and the figure for
the Southeast (8.3%)
• 7th highest rate of rough sleeping in England in
2017
Political landscape
• “Building a world class city for everyone”
• Green policies and housing are a major political
battleground
• Corporate Priorities:
– A Clean and Green Oxford
– Meeting Housing Need
Dual approach
• Information & assistance
– Led by Environmental Sustainability Service
– Seen by sector as neutral
• Enforcement
– Complement HMO Licensing
– Non-HMO sector a concern
Promotion, education and cash
• Led by Environmental Sustainability Service
• Advising and signposting landlords on how to
improve property’s energy efficiency and thermal
comfort for occupants including using thermal
imaging
• Ran four events for landlords highlighting the
2016/2018 Energy Act requirements, the impact of
fuel poverty on life and health and available
funding
• This was supported by newsletters, flyers and
information on the website
• Seek out funding opportunities
The carrots…
• In 2014/15, the Council contracted National
Energy Foundation to manage Landlords grants
for tenants on benefits.
• This was a trial to offer landlords £500 towards
boiler installation, encouraging them to pay the
rest. As a result, 12 boilers were installed.
• In 2016 £35k funding from Ebico Charitable Trust
helped create the Private Rented Energy
Efficiency Grant fund (PREEG)
• Offered free surveys and 50% off all works which
are laid out in a work package for landlords.
• This involves installing simple energy efficiency
work; including loft insulation, pipe and cylinder
lagging, LED lighting, thermostatic radiator
valves (TRVs) and radiator foil for landlords.
PREEG outcomes
• Improved 58 properties
• 366 measures including 32 loft insulation installs
• Lessons
– Lack of interest from landlords even at 50% off
– Focussed on “small measures” – better to treat fewer
properties with larger sums
– Build capacity to deliver projects
Thermal imaging
• A project offering thermal imaging of rental
properties to help landlords understand the need
to improve their homes
• The thermal imaging involved both going out to
take the photos and the production of useful
reports for landlords highlighting issues with
heat loss from their properties.
– 2013/14 = 23 properties
– 2014/15 = 36 properties
– 2015/16 = 19 properties
• Outcomes
– Primarily awareness raising
– Community engagement
– Strengthened our “here to help” message
Enforcement
• Proactive approach to PRS enforcement in non-
HMO sector
• Whole house inspection approach
– 250 p.a. target
• 2 work streams:
– Complaints from tenants/residents
– Intelligence led targeting
Targeting F&G Rated properties
• EPC bulk data first obtained in 2012
• 55,400 properties in Oxford, 23,891 EPC
certificates, 1500 were rated F or G
• EPC data showed 7% of the PRS in Oxford as
having an unsatisfactory EPC F and G rating
• To ensure accuracy, the EPC data was checked,
and the Council’s knowledge of individual
properties to target the worst offenders
Outcomes
• 121 F/G properties identified with 59 inspected,
31 of which were whole house HHSRS
• All assessed properties had Category 1 hazard
for excess cold
• 107 other deficiencies found
• Nearly half of the inspections also found damp
and mould deficiencies
• Notices issued to secure improvements
Conclusions
• Using EPCs to target interventions is a valid
approach
• Low EPC ratings are likely to contain more
hazards than just excess cold.
• The level of other deficiencies found is significant
• Evidence of the likely health impacts of these
poorly performing properties
HMOs & MEES
HMOs – separate tenancies (1)
• HMOs may be exempt from requirement to
provide an EPC
• Guidance says to be exempt:
HMO’s (Houses in Multiple Occupation, for example these can be
bedsits, hostels, shared houses etc) which have not been subject
to a sale in the previous ten years, or which have not been let as
a single rental in the past ten years.
• Separate tenancy agreements – likely to be
exempt and these may house the more vulnerable
people
• No obligation to obtain an EPC on a letting of an
individual non self-contained unit within a
property, such as a bedsit or a room in a house in
multiple occupation (HMO).
HMOs – separate tenancies (2)
• However the property in which the unit is situated
may already have its own EPC covering that
property as a whole; this could be because the
property had been bought within the past ten
years, or because it had previously been rented
out on a whole-property basis
• If a property as a whole has a valid EPC and that
EPC shows an energy efficiency rating of F or G,
then the owner/landlord will not, from April 2018,
be able to issue new tenancies for non-self-
contained units within the property until steps are
taken to comply with the Regulations.
Dealing with HMOs - EPC register
based approach
• Extracted all EPCs
• Cross checked against HMO records
• List of HMOs with EPCs
• Filtered F and Gs
• Put a condition on each licence to request EPC
with E or above
• Follow up to check improvements
• 138 with F or G
• So far, 64 are now E or above
Application process
Condition requiring EPC
HHSRS as a backstop
• We inspect all HMOs prior to licensing & then five
year inspections
• If an HMO is exempt from requirement to provide
an EPC, then we will be able to identify any
Category One hazards and seek improvements
via Improvement Notice
Summary
• Continue to use F&G rated EPCs to proactively
target PRS properties
• In discussions with Trading Standards to agree
delegation of powers under:
– Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972
– Section 9EA Local Government Act 2000
– Regulation 5 of the Local Authorities (Arrangements for the
Discharge of Functions) Regulations 2012
• Using MEES to maintain our profile in improving
energy efficiency & reducing fuel poverty