READER SURVEY: DELIVERINGTHE FUTURE HOMES STANDARD 47
Has the Government done enough to help builders understand the impact of and prepare for the Future Homes Standard?
reporting “reducing overheating in homes” as one of their biggest benefits.
TRUST
A home’s performance, and trust in that performance, are two related, and crucial elements of a housebuilder or developer’s reputation. Either are able to make or break public opinion on their final product. With the FHS set to bring the entire new build housing sector up to more stringent standards, and the daily effects of the changes set to bring increasing buyer awareness of the quality improvements, the sector as a whole can arguably expect a positive reputational uplift. Though less popular than some of the other benefits stated in our survey, 19% of respondents listed ‘improving the reputation of the industry’ as a major benefit. One specific area that the FHS could address in this area
– and which has arguably damaged consumer confidence in the housebuilding industry, is the much-reported ‘performance gap’ (between as-designed and as-built energy-efficiency performance). The FHS consultation response announced a new style
Part L compliance report, which would improve the accuracy of ‘as-built energy models’ and additional guidance for homeowners on how to operate low carbon homes. Among our survey respondents, 20% believed that the standard’s potential to close the performance gap is one
of its biggest benefits. A final way trust could be bolstered by the FHS, according
to our survey respondents, was by improving quality of new homes in general versus older housing. It was a larger factor than the performance gap for most – 57% said it ‘will make new homes more popular with buyers who may have previously preferred an older property.’
CONCLUDING SUMMARY
It is now acutely clear that Government intervention is necessary to address housebuilding’s major contribution to the UK’s carbon emissions. While ideas have been tabled for decades, the Future Homes Standard is arguably the first major across-the- board step to ensuring that the Building Regulations drive low-carbon housebuilding as standard. Our research study has however shown that although
critical, there has not been nearly enough support from the Government for industry to engage it with the changes, or enough education among builders, developers, homeowners and buyers. With an interim shift in building performance needed imminently, our survey suggests that the Government appears to have left many builders largely in the dark on the FHS. However this white paper also shows there are some
PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100
