This competition provided funding for English and Welsh local authorities to support them in enforcing the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations. Private rented properties in scope of the MEES Regulations must meet the minimum energy efficiency standard (EPC E) before they can be let, unless a valid exemption has been registered.

Local authorities in England and Wales could bid for financial support through the Private Rental Sector MEES Compliance and Enforcement Competition which made over £4.7m of funding available. The Midlands Net Zero Hub is managed this scheme on behalf of the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Each local authority could bid for up to £100,000 of revenue funding to help build their capacity and capability to enforce the MEES Regulations in the domestic sector in their region. This financial assistance aimed to help drive upgrades in the worst-performing private rented homes.

The competition aimed to:

• Support local authorities with the introduction of a formulated approach for enforcing requirements under The Energy
• Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015
• Assist local authorities with clear financial needs to build compliance and enforcement capacity and capability
  Reduce fuel poverty and the carbon emissions produced by the housing (and commercial) sector.

Around half of the local authorities included in the scheme reported issues with recruitment which hindered their efforts to enforce the minimum energy efficiency standards. Local authorities stated that they would like support in enforcing the MEES regulations. The scheme also demonstrated the need for a centralised database for England to support local authorities in their enforcement activities, particularly in identifying private-rental sector properties.

To assist local councils, a toolkit was created by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero which was received positively by partners.