MEES - are the regulations working?
MEES is a flagship policy to help the UK meet its net zero targets. MEES returns over 50million hits on Google, so it is undoubtedly a widely discussed piece of legislation that should play a major role in reducing the carbon footprint of the non-domestic property stock in the UK. But is there sufficient bite to these regulations?
CMS acts for commercial landlords of different sizes, in all sectors, across England & Wales. Our experience is that there has been almost zero engagement with MEES by the local authorities tasked to enforce the regulations. Is the experience of our clients, and CMS, a true reflection of the level of engagement? Curious to find out how the non-domestic MEES regulations are being enforced, we set out to test a simple hypothesis:
The risk of MEES enforcement is low
If our hypothesis is correct, what are the implications for those with commercial property portfolios and for the government’s ambitious net zero targets for the built environment? This is the first of a series of articles that examines the MEES enforcement data we have collected and what it means for those owning, occupying, managing and investing in commercial property.
Gathering the evidence
During the summer of 2023, CMS issued Freedom of Information requests to 285 local authorities in England and Wales. Seven questions were asked:
Response success rate
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The data
MEES regulations are not being actively enforced by Local Authorities and the data tells a very clear story.Local authorities that reported tenant-reported breaches
Local authority response highlights
This data proves part of our hypothesis: despite the UK government’s drive and commitment to reduce carbon emissions and the energy consumption of the non-domestic building stock in England and Wales, and the emphasis on MEES as a way to do this, local authorities are failing to enforce the MEES regulations.
An occupier-driven enforcement
Of the 208 local authorities that responded with answers to our questions, 82% are taking an “intelligence-led approach”, meaning that local authorities are awaiting civilian complaints before actioning any form of MEES related investigations. Despite the UK government’s commitments, those charged with enforcing MEES are taking a reactive rather than proactive approach:
“There has been no intelligence received to indicate this is an area we need to use our resources, as such no inspections have been carried out.”
Flintshire County Council
“The authority reacts to complaints received”
North East Lincolnshire Council
Responses analysis
"The green agenda, for both landlords and tenants in all sectors of commercial real estate, is going in only one direction and MEES has been much talked about in terms of the impact it would have. That impact is not being driven by the threat (or reality) of enforcement action. If the government wants to change that, then significant investment will be needed. A separate question is whether the government needs to change the culture about MEES enforcement.”
Anna Ralston-Crane
Partner
"The lack of MEES enforcement by local authorities is startling. As landlords and tenants drive their own ESG requirements and goals, the market has become the unofficial enforcer of the MEES regulations”
Michael Cox
Senior Associate
Future publications in our data-driven MEES series will tackle:
- the possible reasons for the lack of enforcing MEES;
- the benefits of MEES on the real estate market;
- survival of the MEES regulations and whether evolution is needed.
