Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to review Document O building regulations for windows, in the context of encouraging house building.

Part O of the Building Regulations ensures new housing is built to mitigate the risk of overheating. This came into effect in June 2022.

Since October 2023, the Building Safety Regulator has a statutory duty under the Building Safety Act 2022 to keep the safety and standard of buildings under review. This includes continuous review of the Building Regulations and the Approved Documents, which provide statutory guidance on how to meet the functional requirements on the Regulations.

In the Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation, which ran from December 2023 – March 2024, the Government sought views on whether the current overheating standards are appropriate or require amendment. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the consultation and will publish the Government response in the coming months.

We are also engaging with industry via the Future Homes Hub to gain greater insight into how Part O is being implemented in practice.