The Housing Forum welcomes today’s publication of the long-awaited Future Home Standard. It will ensure that new homes are off gas and zero-carbon ready, with most using heat pumps or heat networks. Anna Clarke, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, said:
Many of our members at The Housing Forum, including councils, housing associations and housebuilders, have already started building off-gas homes targeted at the Future Homes Standard, but the long delays in publishing the Standard have caused uncertainty over the details of what will be required and when. This contributed to some of the problems we have seen with social landlords being unwilling to take on new homes built with gas boilers, even though these are inline with current regulations.
Recent world events have highlighted how important it is to insulate people from the effects of volatile gas prices – Homes built to the Future Homes Standard will use much less energy than older homes. Being off-gas also means that once the grid if fully decarbonised, they will be zero-carbon, with rooftop solar giving further financial savings on bills.
Now that we know the detail and timelines, the housing sector can plan ahead with certainty – designing, planning and building new homes for a low-carbon future.