The government has confirmed that the Future Homes Standard will be published in the first quarter of 2026, according to the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), which responded to the publication of the Warm Homes Plan on 22 January 20261.
CIBSE said the plan commits £15 billion to upgrading five million homes by 2030, and listed the measures it welcomed: further investment in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme with a wider range of technologies; financial support for low-income families to decarbonise their homes; plans to roll out new Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for the private rental sector, with similar changes proposed for social rent alongside reforms to the EPC regime; and an extension of ECO4 to allow remedial work on faulty insulation to be completed without additional cost to bill payers1.
"Confirmation the new Future Homes Standard will be published in Q1 this year."
The body said the plan's ambition "could and should go further", noting that retrofitting five million homes over five years represents only around one fifth of England's housing stock. It also said it would have welcomed a clearer focus on indoor environmental quality and ventilation, and comparable incentives for small businesses and public sector buildings, particularly after funding for the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was withdrawn1.
Dr Anastasia Mylona, CIBSE's Technical Director, said the sustained emphasis on heat pumps, combined with solar, battery technologies and district heating, offered a clear signal of the future direction of domestic heating, adding that these technologies deliver benefits only when properly designed, installed and integrated with fabric efficiency, ventilation and overheating risk management1.
| Measure | Detail as reported |
|---|---|
| Warm Homes Plan funding | £15 billion to upgrade five million homes by 2030 |
| Future Homes Standard | Publication confirmed for Q1 2026 |
| Boiler Upgrade Scheme | Further investment, wider range of technologies |
| ECO4 | Extended to cover remedial work on faulty insulation |
| MEES | Rollout planned for the private rental sector |
Why it matters for households
The Future Homes Standard sets the energy and carbon requirements for new homes in England, so its publication date determines when builders must meet the new specification. For anyone buying a new home, the standard shapes what heating system and fabric efficiency come as standard, and how much a home costs to run from the day it is occupied. The site's guide to new build homes and energy sets out what buyers currently get, and the performance gap explains why as-built performance can differ from a rating.
For existing homes, the measures CIBSE lists touch on the private rented sector through MEES, on insulation defects through the ECO4 extension, and on heating replacement through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. The plan's emphasis on heat pumps alongside solar, batteries and district heating indicates the direction of domestic heating policy, though the detail of how each scheme will operate has not been reported here. The Warm Homes Plan guide covers what the plan means for households.
What happens next
The Future Homes Standard is due for publication in the first quarter of 20261. No further dates for the other measures have been reported.