Register an exemption from private rented sector energy standards
DESNZ'S Register an exemption from private rented sector energy standards beta assessment report
Register an exemption from private rented sector energy standards
| Assessment date | 11/3/2026 and 29/4/2026 |
| Assessment stage | Beta |
| Assessment type | Assessment |
| Service provider | DESNZ |
| Result | Green |
At the assessment on 11 March 2026 security monitoring was not in place resulting in an amber outcome for point 9 and the service as a whole. Evidence was received on 29 April 2026 that security monitoring was in place and being actively used to monitor the service, enabling point 9 to be uprated and the overall marking changed to green.
Previous assessment reports
The service was not assessed at the alpha stage. At alpha the service team was only looking to make minor changes to the service (look and feel), so it was not assessed. Instead, a light touch desk review took place. Post-alpha confirmation the service was to be re-platformed and undergo a significant redesign, resulted in a beta assessment.
Service description
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard (MEES) Regulations require privately rented properties to meet at least an Energy Performance (EPC) rating of E. Landlords with domestic or non-domestic properties covered by the MEES Regulations can only let properties with an EPC rating of F or G, if they have valid registered exemption in place.
An existing service allowing landlords to register exemptions is being redeveloped and re-platformed in Salesforce.
The new service will have:
- a landlord portal allowing landlords and their agents to register an exemption or exemptions to the MEES Regulations for their rental properties; manage, view, and end exemptions; and upload evidence to fulfil regulatory obligations.
- a local authority portal allowing local authority staff to view registered exemptions, check that they are accurate, and record any penalties issued to landlords breaching the Regulations.
- a public register allowing people to view exemptions that landlords have registered and any publication penalties that local authorities have issued to landlords who are in breach of the Regulations.
Service users
This service is for landlords and agents, local authorities and general public.
- Landlords and agents – experienced landlords with large portfolios, first‑time or single‑property landlords, and agents managing small or large portfolios.
- Local authorities – compliance staff needing to review landlords’ exemptions for compliance with the Regulations: domestic exemptions (housing teams), non-domestic exemptions (trading standards teams) and exemptions across single or multiple council areas.
- Members of the public and tenants – seeking to view exemptions and penalties to make informed decisions when renting a property.
Things the service team has done well:
- Given there are effectively three services being delivered, the team has joined up the service well to reduce duplication.
- The team is aware of the broader ecosystem and taking steps to integrate with other services where possible.
- The team has demonstrated good knowledge of the user groups of the three services.
- The team has demonstrated their close collaboration and joint-decision making based on research evidence across the user-centred design team, digital delivery team, and the policy team.
- Salesforce Shield has been procured for security monitoring and is being used to monitor the service and wider Salesforce platform.
1. Understand users and their needs
Decision
The service was rated green for point 1 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- The team is advised to continue to closely monitor the service performance and user feedback during the post-launch period to ensure the service is joined up across online and offline support channels for different user groups.
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service was rated green for point 2 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- There are many different asks on these users across government, so continue to work on how to reduce this should be a focus for iteration.
- The panel didn’t see much of the end journey or the journey for existing registered landlords that will move to this service, although it was discussed. We strongly encourage user research on this journey to lessen the pain points on this user set.
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service was rated green for point 3 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- Continue user research and performance monitoring to continuously improve the end-to-end journey.
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service was rated green for point 4 of the Standard.
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service was rated green for point 5 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- Take up of Assisted Digital users were low compared to numbers contacted. The team should explore other ways to engage this group to test functionality in future, especially if helpline numbers don’t drop, such as rewarded interviews.
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service was rated green for point 6 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- Ensure that changes to the team as the service moves into public beta are managed so that the service team can continue to deliver against the Roadmap, and that any team changes are carefully managed so that knowledge is retained within the service team.
7. Use agile ways of working
Decision
The service was rated green for point 7 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- Consider reviewing Ways of Working as the team moves into public beta.
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service was rated green for point 8 of the Standard.
9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
Decision
The service was rated green for point 9 of the Standard.
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service was rated green for point 10 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- The team should agree a review cadence before the service moves into public beta, and how service insights will be fed back into the service team.
- Metrics presented were quite policy heavy, the team is recommended to engage a performance analyst to review metrics, and continue to refine service insight metrics as users start onboarding.
11. Choose the right tools and technology
Decision
The service was rated green for point 11 of the Standard.
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service was rated green for point 12 of the Standard.
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service was rated green for point 13 of the Standard.
14. Operate a reliable service
Decision
The service was rated green for point 14 of the Standard.
Optional advice to help the service team continually improve the service:
- The evidence provided suggested an almost 90%+ usage on desktop, however a quick check on google analytics suggested that content around this topic has a more even split between mobile and desktop. It may be sensible to review this assumption when the service is up and running for some time, so more accurate data can be collected.
Next steps
This service can now move into a public beta phase, subject to getting approval from the GDS spend control team.
This service now has permission to launch on a GOV.UK service domain with a beta banner. These instructions explain how to set up your *.service.gov.uk domain.
The service must be rated green at a live assessment before:
-
turning off a legacy service
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reducing the team’s resources to a ‘business as usual’