Housing: Standards

(asked on 15th December 2020) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the support required by the built environment sector to adapt to the Future Homes Standard.


Answered by
Lord Greenhalgh Portrait
Lord Greenhalgh
This question was answered on 22nd December 2020

We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards. These homes will be ‘zero carbon ready’, with the ability to become fully zero carbon homes over time as the electricity grid decarbonises, without the need for further costly retrofitting work.

Some home-builders are already building to fabric standards above the current Building Regulations or installing low carbon heating systems, but it is important that all parts of industry are ready to build homes that are fit for a zero carbon future.

Our October 2019 consultation on an interim uplift to energy efficiency requirements acknowledged that in order to meet the Future Homes Standard, industry will need time to develop the necessary supply chains, skills and construction practices to deliver homes that incorporate low-carbon heat and very high fabric standards.

The consultation set out a proposed implementation timeline for the Future Homes Standard, with indicative timings for further research, industry engagement and a full technical consultation. We anticipate that the two-stage approach that we are taking to implementing the Future Homes Standard will help to prepare the necessary supply chains by encouraging the use of low-carbon heating in new homes, while accounting for the skills of industry and market factors.

We will be publishing the Government response to the Future Homes Standard interim uplift consultation as soon as possible and this will set out a roadmap to the Future Homes Standard.

Reticulating Splines