The government’s Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) is coming, and property owners across the UK are making sure their properties are compliant.

Gwen Kinloch, Environment and Sustainability Manager at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council had attended a Murton & Co seminar on the issue and was keen to make sure the community centres they lease to local organisations would not fall foul of the law. “It was good to have my understanding of MEES confirmed,” said Gwen. “I’m not a property person, so it I appreciated the perspective of a professional.”

After getting lots of useful advice from the seminar, Gwen instructed Murton & Co to undertake surveys of several community centres to ascertain the EPC rating and the implications for MEES compliance. The results of the evaluations demonstrated most buildings were not at risk, with EPCs comfortably rated in bands C and D. There was, however, one building that fell into band E, which is the minimum required under the MEES regulations for any letting.

Confidence in the future

Murton & Co provided a report on various options for improving the energy performance of this property.

“The report was very useful,” says Gwen. “Jonny goes the extra mile to give you feedback on his own interpretation. It isn’t just a tick box exercise. And he knew we had a limited budget, so didn’t push for a MEES compliance survey if we didn’t need one. We always knew we could bring him in later if something went wrong.” Although each property was comfortably within range of an EPC pass rating, the report did highlight changes that could be made to guarantee MEES compliance in the future.

“Jonny showed a willingness to communicate with us and give us the benefit of his experience. It has given us confidence in areas we previously didn’t have it.”

Want to guarantee your own property is MEES compliant? Find out more here.