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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

From 2025, DLUHC will introduce the Future Homes Standard which will ensure that new homes produce lower emissions, and the Future Buildings Standard will ensure highly efficient non-domestic buildings. On 15 December, the Department published the government response to the Future Buildings Standard consultation and implemented an interim uplift to the Building Regulations. From next summer, when the new regulations come into force, new homes will be expected to produce around 30% fewer carbon emissions and new non-domestic buildings will be expected to produce 27% fewer carbon emissions.

In July 2021, we updated the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), placing a stronger emphasis on delivering sustainable development and a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change. The NPPF highlights that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development through economic, social and environmental objectives which include protecting our natural environment and moving to a low carbon economy.