VIEWPOINT FUTURE HOMES
THE UK’S HOUSING sector accounts for 30% of total energy use and about 24% of greenhouse gas emissions. This reality, combined with continued pressure to meet environmental targets, has led to frequent changes to the regulations surrounding energy efficiency, ventilation and building new properties. Among these changing regulations, the Future Homes Standard represents a significant reform.
What is the Future Homes Standard? The Future Homes Standard has been a central topic in the industry for several years and will finally be introduced by the UK government later this year. The Future Homes Standard is a set of new building regulations that mandate much higher energy efficiency standards for new residential construction projects. The standard requires newly built homes to be future-proofed with low-carbon heating and world- leading levels of energy efficiency. The goal is to ensure that new homes produce at least 75% lower CO2 emissions compared to current standards. This step is part of the broader strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, aligning with the UK’s climate commitments and promoting sustainable development and healthier living environments.
Who needs to comply with these standards? The Future Homes Standard mostly focuses on newly built properties, ensuring that all new homes are constructed to meet higher energy efficiency standards. However, it also applies to properties undergoing significant renovations or extensions. This means that when
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STANDARD EXPLAINED Alan Siggins, managing director of Airflow
“The goal is to ensure that new homes produce at least 75% lower CO2 emissions compared to current standards.”
an existing home is retrofitted with an extension or with major improvements, the building will need to comply with the same energy performance standards as new builds. This approach ensures consistency, so that extensions meet the same rigorous standards
for energy efficiency, insulation, and renewable energy integration as newly constructed homes. Overall, this will help the entire UK housing stock align with sustainability goals, not just new developments.
As part of this legislation, there will have to be an upgrade in the materials being used for construction. Very high-quality building materials, triple glazing standards and low-energy heating through heat pumps will replace their older, less efficient counterparts. Homes built under the Future Homes Standard will also be built with renewable energy sources in order to be ‘zero-carbon ready.’
While renewable products will play a significant part in improving the energy efficiency of new homes, achieving ‘zero- carbon ready’ status goes beyond just heating and insulation. Ventilation is an equally important component. Since new homes will be much more airtight to reduce heat loss and save energy, proper
ventilation and a flow of fresh air is essential to maintain a healthy indoor environment. Systems like Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) support this by supplying filtered air while recovering heat from outgoing air. Under the Future Homes Standard, new homes will continue to become more airtight to conserve energy, often making natural ventilation alone insufficient. Because of this, minimum ventilation rates for new homes have been updated to ensure adequate air flow to maintain indoor air quality. This is typically determined based on the internal floor area or the number of bedrooms in any given dwelling.
The Future Homes Standard represents one of the most significant shifts in UK residential construction practices in years. While there are clear long-term benefits to the energy efficiency and quality of UK housing, the transition won’t be without challenges. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2025
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