CIH welcomes confirmation of the Future Homes Standard

CIH has today (24 March) welcomed the publication of the government’s decision to introduce the Future Homes Standard.  

The Future Homes Standard will see most new homes built with low-carbon heating and solar panels, and high energy efficiency standards. Alongside confirmation of its decision, the government has also published updated versions of Approved Document F (Ventilation) and Approved Document L (Energy and greenhouse gas emissions).  

The new standard will come into force on 24 March 2027 for most homes, followed by a 12-month transition period.  

Commenting on the announcement, Matthew Scott, policy manager at CIH, said: “Today’s publication of the Future Homes Standard is the final piece of the jigsaw that will give housing professionals the certainty they need to expand their housebuilding programmes.”  

“We welcome the government’s decision that all new homes will be built with low-carbon technology and higher levels of fabric performance, which will futureproof current and future generations from fuel poverty.” 

In addition to the confirmation of the Future Homes Standard, the government has made several related announcements.  

• New guidance has been published to better enable smart meter installations in new homes
• Technical details of the Home Energy Model for the Future Homes Standard were confirmed. We await confirmation of how the Home Energy Model will be used to set new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) bandings for Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES)
• The government has committed to exploring the use of plug-in solar panels, which are widely used across Germany and other parts of Europe
• A call for evidence was launched on how the government should use the £5 billion of financial transactions set out in the Warm Homes Plan
• £130 million has been allocated to mayoral authorities for energy efficiency upgrades, which is part of an additional £295 million allocated to the Warm Homes: Social Housing fund Wave 3 for the next financial year (2026–2027) which other current Wave 3 grant recipients will be able to apply for in the coming weeks.  

CIH will be publishing a member briefing on the Future Homes Standard in the coming weeks and will keep our members updated with further information when it is announced.