Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 18
18
We were told that local government needs additional resources to enforce minimum energy efficiency standards...
Conclusion
We were told that local government needs additional resources to enforce minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector. Resources should be made available for this purpose. Enforcement would also be aided by the introduction of a register of landlords, as already undertaken in certain local authorities, and we are pleased to hear the Government is considering this as an option. This register must be compulsory and local authorities must have enforcement powers to ensure registration. (Paragraph 79) The wider role of local government
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
To date, BEIS has made available a total amount of £6,442,728 for compliance and enforcement of the minimum energy efficiency standard (MEES) Regulations. To support local authorities, we conducted a Private Rented Sector Enforcement Pilot Study over two years. 19 local authorities involved in the project were allocated over £2.1 million in funding. We are planning to share the study’s findings with all local authorities in England and Wales in the form of an advisory best-practice toolkit on monitoring, compliance and enforcement of the minimum standard in 2022. BEIS also recently launched an enforcement competition where local authorities were able to bid for up to £100,000 to support MEES compliance. 117 local authorities bid for money, of which 59 local authorities were successful and allocated a total of £4.3 million in government funding. Finally, in the Net Zero Strategy and the Heat and Buildings Strategy, we committed to the introduction of a compliance and exemptions database to support local authority enforcement of these regulations.