F and G ratings already cost you: MEES today, not 2030

The 2030 EPC C deadline gets the headlines, but a surprising number of landlords — and some agents — don’t realise that part of this regime is already law. Under the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES), it has been unlawful to let a residential property rated F or G in England and Wales since April 2020, covering all existing tenancies, not just new ones.

What MEES requires today

• The property must be rated E or better to be let.
• The rule bites on new lets, renewals, and continuing tenancies.
• Marketing a sub-standard property is where trouble usually starts — enforcement teams read the portals too.

If a property is F or G rated, the options are: improve it to at least E, or register a valid exemption. Letting it and hoping is the one option that isn’t on the list.

The exemptions register

Exemptions exist, but they’re narrower than most people assume and must be registered on the public PRS Exemptions Register — they don’t apply automatically. The main ones:

• All improvements made — you’ve spent to the current cost cap and the property still sits below E.
• Consent refused — a tenant, superior landlord, or planning authority refused consent for the works.
• Devaluation — an independent surveyor confirms the works would devalue the property by more than 5%.
• New landlord — a temporary six-month exemption after certain purchase events.

Exemptions are time-limited (typically five years), property-specific, and publicly visible. They also don’t transfer on sale.

What it costs to ignore

Current MEES penalties run up to £5,000 per property, plus a publication penalty — the breach is published with your name on it. The 2030 proposals raise the ceiling to £30,000 per property. Local authorities enforce, and enforcement funding has been increasing.

The quiet problem: expired certificates

An EPC lasts ten years. A wave of certificates lodged during 2015–2020 — the years MEES first pushed landlords to certify — is expiring now. An expired EPC means the property can’t be marketed or let, regardless of what the old rating was. It’s the most common compliance failure we find in portfolio assessments, and the easiest to fix.

The agent’s angle

For a letting agent, an F or G in the managed book is a live liability today: the landlord is exposed, and the agent marketing the property is in the enforcement conversation too. Our free portfolio assessment flags every F, G, and expired certificate in one pass — along with each property’s route to C for 2030. One list, both problems.

My EPC Partner maps portfolios against these rules for free — every property's rating, expiry, and route to C, scheduled to your voids. Book the free assessment.