All About Energy — Monthly News Update
November 2026 · EPCs, MEES and energy efficiency for Nottingham landlords, letting agents and homeowners
Welcome to this month's roundup — the EPC, MEES and energy efficiency news that could affect your property, put together by your local Nottingham assessors.
This month's headlines
Energy Independence Bill introduced — MEES penalties rising to £30,000
The government's new Energy Independence Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 4 November. It's the piece of legislation that will actually put the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards reforms into law, and it's significant: the maximum civil penalty for a domestic MEES breach would rise from £5,000 to £30,000, councils would get stronger powers to check compliance and inspect properties, and — notably — authorities could gain the power to restrict marketing of non-compliant rental properties. The Bill also puts into primary legislation what's already been signalled: a single 1 October 2030 compliance date for all tenancies (no earlier date for new lets), backing the EPC C target. It still has several stages of Parliament to clear before becoming law.
Warm Homes Agency announced to run efficiency schemes
Tucked inside the same Bill is the legal groundwork for a new Warm Homes Agency — a body intended to take over running existing energy efficiency schemes and make advice and funding easier for homeowners and landlords to access via the Warm Homes Plan. Detail on what it'll actually do day-to-day is still thin, but it signals government wants a single, clearer front door for this rather than the current patchwork of schemes.
Autumn Budget trims Warm Homes Plan funding and winds back VAT relief
The Budget on 28 October brought mixed news for energy efficiency. On the downside: £1 billion has been cut from the £15 billion Warm Homes Plan capital funding announced back in January, ECO4 closes on 31 December with no successor scheme confirmed yet, and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme's 2027–28 budget has been trimmed from a planned £600 million to £400 million (though grant amounts themselves — £7,500 for most heat pumps, £9,000 for oil/LPG homes — are unchanged until March 2027). The 0% VAT rate on insulation, heat pumps, solar panels and batteries also reverts to 5% from 1 April 2027. No new tax relief was announced for landlords doing efficiency work, and rental income tax is actually rising from April 2027. The one bright spot: the Warm Homes Loan Scheme and Local Grant were left untouched.
Warm Homes Loan Scheme is finally open
Following on from the delay we flagged last month: the Warm Homes Loan Scheme did open on 28 October, with ten lenders now live (including Secure Trust Bank, Tandem Bank, Sunsave and others), offering reduced-interest loans for heat pumps, solar PV and batteries. Worth knowing about for homeowner or landlord clients who need to finance a bigger retrofit job and don't want to wait for grant funding alone.
On the radar
As a standing reminder: research earlier this year put Nottingham East among the worst-affected areas in England for EPC compliance, with 64% of rental properties currently below EPC C — second only to Manchester Gorton nationally. With enforcement powers now being written into primary legislation and fines rising sixfold, this is less of a "someday" issue for local landlords than it was even a couple of months ago. The new-look EPC itself (separate ratings for energy cost, fabric, heating and smart readiness) remains on track for the second half of 2027 — nothing changes for the certificate you'd get today.
A quick note from us
If any of the above raises questions about a specific property — whether it's heading toward EPC C, what an assessment would cost, or just wanting a certificate renewed before it expires — get in touch and we'll be happy to help.