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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the October 2019 consultation on the Future Homes Standard, whether proposals to restrict local planning authorities from setting energy efficiency standards for new homes higher than those required by national Building Regulations would restrict the Mayor of London from introducing policies in new London Plans that require on-site carbon reductions from major residential developments beyond the baseline of part L of Building Regulations.

The?proposed Future Homes Standard?aims to create?new build?homes?fit for the future through?low carbon?heating?and?energy efficiency,?from?2025.? The Future Homes Standard consultation closed on 7 February 2020. We are currently analysing over 3,000 responses and will publish the Government’s response in due course. We are consulting on an ambitious set of changes proposing minimum standards for building fabric that are higher than ever, which means there may no longer be a need for local planning authorities to set higher standards . Although I cannot comment on the specifics of the London Plan during its ‘Intention to Publish’ stage, I will carefully consider the Mayor of London’s response to my Department’s consultation alongside other responses received.