Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring homebuilders to install solar panels on all newly built homes.

Solar panels are a key part of our strategy to get to net zero via a decarbonised electricity grid. We must therefore take the opportunity, where appropriate, to install them.

However, many homes may not be suitable for solar panels - perhaps because of shading, the orientation of the building, the shape/size of the roof or visual amenity.

Our approach to drive decarbonisation in buildings will see a tightening of energy efficiency standards with an uplift to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations recently introduced in December 2021. The uplift comes into force in June 2022 and will deliver a 30% reduction in CO2 emissions for new homes compared to those built to the previous standards. It will pave the way for the Future Homes Standard in 2025, ensuring that new homes produce at least 75% lower CO2 emissions.

Our approach remains technology-neutral and allows developers to retain the flexibility they need to use the materials and technologies that suit the circumstances of a site and their business to achieve these targets. This includes the use of solar panels where appropriate. The development of the 2021 energy efficiency targets included consideration of solar panels and thus many new buildings, where appropriate, will use this technology to meet the new standard.