Interim changes to Part F and Part L of the building regulations have been in place since June 2022, according to the Planning Portal1. Under the uplift, new build homes must produce 31 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions than previously set standards1. A new Approved Document O was added alongside the interim changes, which aims to tackle overheating within homes1.
The scale of the reduction is reported slightly differently across official documents. The Planning Portal puts it at 31 per cent1, and Solar Energy UK, reporting the government decision in January 2021, also said housebuilders would need to ensure new homes produce 31 per cent less carbon emissions compared to current standards from June 20222. A House of Commons Library briefing describes the uplift as requiring carbon emissions from new build homes to be around 30 per cent lower than under previous standards3, and a 2022 committee report said new homes would be expected to produce around 30 per cent less CO2 compared with the previous 2013 standards4. A POSTnote published by Parliament said an interim change expected to apply from June 2022 aimed to reduce emissions in homes by 30 per cent compared to current standards5.
The interim uplift sits between earlier standards and the Future Homes Standard, which is intended to apply to new buildings from 2025 and achieve a reduction of 75 to 80 per cent in CO2 emissions compared with those built to current standards5. Solar Energy UK described the 2022 change as an important steppingstone towards a more ambitious Future Homes Standard in 20252. The government has published figures on how much lower carbon emissions will be under that standard see [How much lower will carbon emissions be in new homes under the Future Homes Standard?].
Solar Energy UK said the decision could drive a five-fold increase in new homes built with solar technologies2. Its chief executive, Chris Hewett, said:
"Every new home built will require an increase in energy efficiency that could be met by solar. This is a real victory for our industry and consumers, acting as an important steppingstone on the way towards a more ambitious Future Home Standard come 2025."
The regulations are technology-neutral, and solar panels are not currently mandated on new homes3. The 2021 regulations apply on a house by house basis rather than to whole development sites, and any development started before the regulations came into force had 12 months to build to the old standard before new plots had to move over6.
| Measure | Reported reduction |
|---|---|
| New build homes, interim uplift from June 2022 | 31%1; around 30%3 |
| New buildings under the Future Homes Standard from 2025 | 75 to 80%5 |
Why it matters for households
For a household buying a home completed under the interim standards, the practical effect is a building designed to a lower carbon and energy demand than one built to the pre-2022 rules. How that is achieved is left to the builder: the standards set outcomes rather than specifying solar panels or any other single technology3. That means two new homes on the same street, both compliant, may have different combinations of fabric, heating and on-site generation, and therefore different running costs and different degrees of reliance on bought-in energy. The addition of Approved Document O also brings overheating in homes into the regulatory framework for the first time1, which bears on summer comfort and on how much cooling a home may need. For buyers of new build homes, the energy performance of the property is set by the standard it was built to, not by anything the occupant chooses afterwards.
What happens next
The interim changes have applied since June 20221. The second step is the Future Homes Standard, with a target that it is in force by 20256 and intended to apply to all new buildings from 20255. The government has said it will publish a response to its 2023/24 consultation on the detailed specification in due course3. A final decision on the amount of solar panels that new homes will typically be expected to include is yet to be made, and solar panels are not currently mandated3.
Sources6 cited
- Current measures - The Future Homes Standard - Planning Portal, planningportal.co.uk
- Solar energy industry hails decision on housebuilding standards • Solar Energy UK, solarenergyuk.org
- [](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-10170/CBP-10170.pdf), researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk
- Decarbonising heat in homes: Government Response to the Committee’s Seventh Report of 2021–22 - Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, publications.parliament.uk
- Environmental housing standards, researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk
- Future homes are solar homes • Solar Energy UK, solarenergyuk.org