Committee publication · Correspondence · 13 May 2025

Letter from Ben Cowell OBE, Director General, Historic Houses, regarding minimum energy efficiency standards, dated 17 April 2025

From: Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Summary

Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses, writes to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee expressing concern that proposed minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) regulations will impose an EPC rating C requirement on heritage buildings offering short-term lets. He argues the regulations fail to account for the complexities of older buildings and risks forcing owners to cease let operations, threatening heritage viability and dependent small businesses.

Key findings

Historic Houses represents over 1,400 independently owned grade I and II*-listed houses, castles, and gardens across the UK, including Chatsworth House, Blenheim Palace, and Beaulieu
Proposed MEES regulations will require many heritage buildings to achieve EPC rating C for the first time, presenting a 'challenging, if not impossible target'
Income from short-term lets is often reinvested in essential heritage repairs and maintenance; abandoning let operations would threaten this funding
The policy change was announced after the deadline for written submissions to the Protecting Built Heritage inquiry, limiting opportunity for prior input
Historic Houses offers to provide oral evidence or host a site visit as part of the inquiry

Tone

Critical

Topics

heritage-conservationbuilding-regulationsproperty-lettingsenergy-efficiency

Key actors

Ben Cowell OBE, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Historic Houses, Madeleine Eagan, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Notable line

“… achieve. It could lead many owners simply to abandon their short-term let operations.”

Key Quotes

“The proposal to include short-term lets within the MEES means that many heritage buildings will now be required to achieve an EPC rating of at least C, having never had an EPC before.”
— Ben Cowell OBE · Describing the regulatory impact on heritage buildings

“For many heritage buildings, this will be a challenging, if not impossible target to achieve.”
— Ben Cowell OBE · Assessing feasibility of compliance with EPC rating C requirement

“… the income from short-term lets is often reinvested in essential repairs and maintenance.”
— Ben Cowell OBE · Explaining the financial interdependence between let income and heritage upkeep

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Source · parliament.uk record ↗