Methodology · MEES Risk Snapshot

Calculating MEES penalty
exposure.

A full account of the regulation, the formula, the data sources, the edge cases, and the assumptions baked into the tool. Use this when you have to defend the number to a board, an asset manager, or a lender.

  • SI 2015/962 Reg 39
  • MHCLG EPC Register
  • £150,000 Fine Cap
  • May 2026 Update

Contents

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1. The source regulation

The Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/962) is the legal anchor. Regulation 39 sets out the financial penalties a local-weights-and-measures authority may impose on a landlord who lets, or continues to let, a sub-standard non-domestic property in breach of regulation 27.

The headline locked wording, used verbatim across CrowAgent: Maximum fine is rateable-value-based, capped at £150,000 per SI 2015/962 reg 39. This replaces the misleading £30,000-flat figure that still circulates in older industry briefings. The figure is wrong as a matter of law, and we never use it.

2. The penalty formula

Reg 39 sets two penalty bands. The choice of band depends on how long the property has been let in breach.

  • Less than 3 months in breach: 10% of the property's rateable value, with a floor of £5,000 and a cap of £50,000.
  • 3 months or more in breach: 20% of the property's rateable value, with a floor of £10,000 and a cap of £150,000.

The Snapshot returns the long-breach figure as the worst-case exposure, since that is what a board, asset manager, or lender wants to see. It also returns the short-breach figure, so you can model an early-remediation scenario.

3. EPC band lookup

Current EPC band comes from the MHCLG Open Data Communities EPC register (open data, Crown copyright). The Snapshot looks up by postcode and returns the most recent non-domestic EPC certificate. If multiple certificates exist for a building, the user can select which one applies; this matters where a building has been subdivided into multiple lettable units.

4. The Band C 2028 question

The most contested point in MEES practice is the Band C 2028 deadline. We use the locked wording: Band C 2028 is a proposed deadline, not yet confirmed law. The current law is the Energy Efficiency Regulations 2015: MEES Band E (Energy Efficiency Regulations 2015) has applied since 2018 for new lettings and since April 2023 for continuing tenancies.

The Snapshot reports Band C 2028 risk only as a forward-looking signal. It does not treat Band C 2028 as a current penalty trigger.

5. Rateable value sourcing

Rateable value is the fulcrum of the formula. The Snapshot offers three input paths:

  1. Manual entry: paste the figure from your VOA list.
  2. VOA lookup link: deep-link to the Valuation Office Agency for the property.
  3. Estimate: a wide range based on EPC floor area, explicitly flagged as an estimate.

6. Edge cases and exemptions

MEES contains several exemptions: 7-year payback rule, third-party consent, devaluation, listed building, new lease, and registered exemption. The Snapshot flags potentially-applicable exemptions but does not render a final exempt determination.

7. What the Snapshot does not do

The Snapshot is a screening tool, not a substitute for legal advice. It does not run portfolio-level analytics, model retrofit scenarios, or calculate NPV. Those capabilities live in CrowAgent Core. The Snapshot exists to give you a defensible first number in two minutes.

8. References

  • SI 2015/962, Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015, regulations 27 and 39.
  • MHCLG Open Data Communities EPC register: opendatacommunities.org.
  • Valuation Office Agency, Find a Business Rates Valuation: gov.uk.

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