Decision details

To request the Lead Member approval of a revised version of the Council’s 2018 Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards Policy.  The revised policy provides additional flexibility in the setting of civil penalties in cases where landlords do not bring their privately rented properties up to the legal minimum standard set by the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (as amended).

Resolved

(1)       That the revised version of the Council’s Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards Policy, which provides additional flexibility in the determination of civil penalties, be approved.

(2)       That the determination of appropriate penalties under this Policy be delegated to the Assistant Director of Housing and Social Care Commissioning who may then provide sub-delegations, as required, to other appropriate officers.

The Government has introduced financial penalties as a means of preventing landlords from profiting from non-compliance with legislation and to ensure compliant landlords are not disadvantaged.  Penalties for non-compliance are also intended to influence behaviour change and result in pre-enforcement action on the part of those landlords who might otherwise fail to act.

The revised policy continues to support that approach but allows the circumstances of each case to be taken into account when a penalty is being determined.  The maximum penalty will still apply for serious offences, but those involving simple error or technical offences can be issued with a reduced penalty. 

Chasing payment for unpaid fines can be resource intensive and expensive; it is proposed that fines paid within 14 days of the penalty notice issue will be reduced by 25% to incentivise early payment.

The following alternative option has been identified and rejected for the reasons given below.

Option 1: The Council could choose not to amend its existing MEES policy and continue to issue fines at the maximum level allowed by the legislation. In practice however, the lack of flexibility in being able to adjust fines on a case by case basis, taking into account aggravating and mitigating factors and landlord representations may lead to the issuing of disproportionate fines and/or the Council deciding that it is not appropriate to issue a fine even in cases where there are technical breaches of the regulations.

None