The Energy Saving Trust has published its response to the Welsh Government's Building Regulations Part L and F Review: Stage 2B. The page carrying the response is dated 23 April 2026 and identifies itself as the organisation's submission to that review1.
The review, according to the Energy Saving Trust, asked for views on plans to improve the energy efficiency requirements for non-domestic buildings and on overheating in new dwellings, with relevant uplifts in requirements being implemented from Autumn 2022 onwards1. The organisation also states that the review posed similar questions to the English Future Buildings Standard consultation held by the UK Government1.
The published page consists of a short summary and a downloadable PDF of the full response. The substance of the Energy Saving Trust's answers, and any recommendations it made, are contained in that document rather than on the page itself1. The page does not set out the Welsh Government's proposals in detail, nor does it record what the Welsh Government has said in reply.
Part L of the Building Regulations in Wales: Where Welsh Rules Differ deals with the conservation of fuel and power, and Part F with ventilation. Both sit within the wider set of Energy and Buildings Policy in Wales: What the Welsh Government Controls, which is devolved and so diverges from the rules that apply in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation that responds to consultations of this kind; its role and funding are set out in The Energy Saving Trust: What It Does and Who Funds It.
Why it matters for households
The review as described concerns non-domestic buildings and overheating in new dwellings, so its direct effect on the requirements for an existing home is limited. Overheating in new dwellings is nonetheless a household concern: it bears on how a new home is designed, ventilated and shaded, and therefore on how comfortable and how costly it is to live in through warmer periods.
For households in Wales, the practical significance lies in the direction of travel. Requirements for new buildings set the baseline that later work on existing homes tends to follow, and Wales sets these rules separately from the rest of the UK. A householder weighing up work on a home in Wales is therefore dealing with a different regulatory framework from one in England, which is why the Welsh and English consultations described here ran in parallel rather than as one exercise1.
The page does not state what the response asked for, what the Welsh Government intends to do with the answers, or whether any of the proposals will reach existing dwellings. None of that has been reported in the material published alongside the response1.
What happens next
No next steps are given on the published page. The response is dated 23 April 2026, and the page notes that it was last updated on the same date1. No timetable for the Welsh Government's decisions, and no date for any further stage of the review, appears in the published material.
Sources1 cited
- Welsh Government's Building Regulations - Energy Saving Trust, energysavingtrust.org.uk