Government response and impact assessment for the ‘Improving Energy Efficiency of socially rented homes’ consultation
Thursday 2nd of April 2026
The full government response and impact assessment for the ‘Improving Energy Efficiency of socially rented homes’ consultation has been published today (1st April) on the Gov.UK website.
The details released confirm the headline policy announced in January in the DHS policy statement. This will require social homes to meet either the fabric performance, smart readiness or heating system metric at band C by 2030, followed by one of the remaining metrics at band C by 2039, unless a valid exemption applies.
Homes that meet EPC Band C under the current Energy Efficiency Rating system by 1 April 2030 will be considered compliant for the remaining duration of that property’s EPC certificate. This recognises that many providers already have plans in place to reach EPC C by 2030 using existing Energy Efficiency Rating methodology. It also accounts for ongoing EPC reform, which will be delivered from late 2027.
The response contains some further policy details, in particular about the way that the £10,000 spend exemption will work. A spend exemption sets a maximum on the required spend to improve a home to meet the Social Rented Sector Minimum Energy Effiency Standard (SRS MEES). Each property will have a spend exemption of £10,000 for the first metric and £10,000 for the second metric. There are three key metrics:
- Fabric Performance Metric: Measures how well the building retains heat (e.g., insulation, glazing).
- Heating System Metric: Evaluates the efficiency of the heating system. Compliance is likely to mean having a clean source of heat such as a heat pump.
- Smart Readiness Metric: Assesses the building's optimal energy use (e.g., solar panels, batteries).
Each exemption will last for 10-years from the compliance date, giving providers additional time to meet the standard of EPC C. This is different to the original consultation proposals and is designed to accommodate the two compliance dates for MEES, 2030 and 2039.
More information is provided in the consultation response about the exemption, including worked examples in Annex E.
They will shortly publish guidance about the standard and the wider Decent Homes Standard to provide further information on how this policy will be implemented.
As a first step they would like to gather further questions that will inform development. If you have any questions, please send them to decenthomesreview@communities.gov.uk.