46 TRACKING HOUSEBUILDERS’ STRATEGIES FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE FUTURE HOMES STANDARD INDUSTRY VIEWFINDER


margins – resulting from upgrades to building fabric, including insulation and glazing, low-carbon heating such as heat pumps, as well ventilation and renewable electricity systems including solar V; all increasing upfront construction costs. The Government’s own impact assessment on the uture omes and Buildings Standard, to give it its full title, estimates signifi cant additional costs to business, which for housebuilders must either be absorbed or recovered from customers, in a price-sensitive market.


The end product will be homes that emit at least  fewer carbon emissions than homes built to  standards, but exactly how this will be calibrated and achieved will not be clear until the ome nergy odel fi nally emerges. The key challenges for housebuilders include providing heat pumps at scale as the central means of moving away from gas boilers. In addition, the reuirements of the S means certain changes to house design, to achieve greater air tightness, heating specifi cations, hot-water systems and installation processes.


The industry still faces shortages in trained designers of new low carbon V systems, as well as installers and commissioning skills, with the latter in particular causing issues for in-use performance in some cases. Other risks for volume housebuilders include achieving consistent uality, lead times, technical support and pricing, across thousands of plots. In addition, electricity infrastructure and grid connections to support the shift to decarbonisation, meaning electricity-based developments, means much greater demand on the electricity grid. Developers may need to prioritise earlier engagement with Distribution Network Operators and, on larger sites, additional substationnetwork capacity. Solar generation, export capacity and electricity demand management also need to be considered.


The S reuires a rethink on pre-existing house designs; the changes and upgrades reuired cannot simply be ‘bolted on’ to existing house types. eat pumps and associated infrastructure such as hot-water cylinders need design though applied, as do the ramifi cations of roof-mounted V, insulation thickness, and thermal bridging. lso, ventilation and, increasingly, overheating reuirements can all affect fl oorplans, roof design, elevations, plot layouts, and saleable area. ore airtight, energy-effi cient homes can create overheating issues, and indoor-air-uality risks, and ventilation and shading need to be designed in a holistic, site-specifi c way to counter this. ompliance with the new art O standard governing overheating adds another design and coordination challenge, and some confl icts with art , particularly affecting apartments and higher-density developments. onstruction uality must be increased to achieve the designed building performance, but also to address the ‘performance gap’ that has been experienced due to onsite compromises and challenges. irtightness, insulation continuity, thermal junctions, ventilation commissioning and heat-pump sizing all reuire tighter site uality control and higher subcontractor competence than may be common in previous schemes.  substantial  of our respondents said they were ‘very’ or ‘moderately’ concerned about the performance gap currently in housebuilding. There are particular challenges where planning permissions, infrastructure agreements or house-type approvals are


already in place. otential changes to existing pre-consented schemes are likely to be reuired post-arch , or where construction doesn’t begin before arch , to make them comply with tightened reuirements under the S. These changes will likely increase air-tightness, new site infrastructure such as V, or redesigns to include heat pump systems. They may also mean acoustics upgrades, new substations for increased electricity demand, or other increased plant space.


SME-SPECIFIC CHALLENGES


The S places further strain on already cash-strapped S housebuilders, battling a weak homebuying market. arger volume builders can spread design, training and procurement costs across thousands of plots. One of the key fi ndings of our survey of housebuilders was that “build cost infl ation” was the biggest risk perceived by respondents around compliance, with nearly half picking this factor, although most said it would only add less than , to the cost of each house.


This shows how Ss are facing proportionately greater challenges in accessing technical expertise, training, procurement leverage and specialist consultants will be particularly confronted by such cost issues. The Government has explicitly considered the potential impact on Ss and resultant housing supply. The one-year transition period is welcomed, but needs to be carefully managed by housebuilders. ssentially, they face a strategic uestion over whether to bring forward sitesdesigns under existing standards, or redesign pre-emptively for the S. Our survey of housebuilders builds on previous surveys we have undertaken on the changes to arts ,  and the new art O, and the emergence of the S itself. cknowledging the challenge for housebuilders has now evolved from understanding the Standard’s provisions, we canvassed them on their build strategies now the standard is here. The results help us gain a picture of how the sector is looking to deliver effi cient compliance at scale; without eroding margins, disrupting programmes, or being derailed by skills and supply chain issues, grid capacity, or customer issues. s housebuilders and developers move from consultation and planning toward practical implementation, our research examined how the industry is preparing for the legally mandated delivery challenges which fi rms must address to produce energy-effi cient, ‘net zero-ready’ homes. The study explored how developers are adapting fabric


specifi cations, heating strategies, ventilation systems, glazing, renewable technologies and construction methods to meet the new reuirements. It also investigated the key commercial and operational pressures facing projects, including build cost


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