MEES Regulations – The Exemptions
Key Contacts: Steve Morris & Gareth Baker
Author: Joshua Prior
Please read our MEES Regulations – Are You Ready For It? Article for background to the Regulations.
What are the exemptions?
The Regulations allow for several exemptions and also a test, which is an exemption in all but name. The first exemption is known as the Devaluation Exemption and does what it says on the tin. If, in the reasonable opinion of a qualified surveyor, the works undertaken to improve the efficiency of the property will devalue that property, then the Landlord is exempt from the Regulations.
If the Tenant does not allow you, as Landlord, to enter the property to make the necessary works, then you are exempt for as long as the Tenant is in occupation. This is the second exemption and is known as the Consent Exemption. This one lasts for as long as that tenant is in occupation.
Finally, there are a number of temporary exemptions which mostly cover where the Landlord becomes the Landlord throughout the term of the tenancy either by purchase or other operations of law. These exemptions are intended to protect individuals who may not have had control of the timing of their becoming a Landlord.
What’s the test?
The Payback Test is the one that Acuity has seen in practice most. This exempts a Landlord from being required to carry out works to improve the energy efficiency of a property where the cost of those works exceeds the saved costs on energy spending over the next seven years.
This test involves some very technical mechanics, and if you would like to seek clarifications on these please speak to one of our Real Estate Partners.
How can Acuity help?
Acuity Law has a large and experienced real estate team that focuses on development and portfolio work. We work with many clients in the manufacturing and industrial sections and these are the sectors that are most likely to be hit the hardest by these regulations due to old warehouses and factories not being insulated properly, or insulated with harmful substances such as asbestos.
If you have any concerns that your properties may be substandard, or you are struggling to understand the regulations, please contact our Real Estate team who will be more than happy to talk you through your options and support you through the process.
If you would like to speak to us about any point in this article, please contact us at hello@acuitylaw.com.
