Westminster Hall debate, Environmental Standards for new housing, 12 September 2024

Key Messages

• Councils, as planning authorities, shape place through the Local Plan making process and through location specific Masterplans. Through these processes, growth areas are identified, and areas of land are designated for uses. These plan making processes shape future land use and with that comes future energy demand. 
• Increasingly councils are looking to play their role in supporting decision-making around the local energy system. For instance, many councils are now looking to develop Local Area Energy Plans but are also considering other ways to best shape place given the likely largescale shift to the electrification of buildings and transport. Councils, as community leaders, can be a positive and influential partner when taking this agenda forward. 
• The LGA welcomes the Government’s progress made in moving towards The Future Homes and Buildings Standard, but it needs to be implemented if full without further delay to avoid policies that will lead to the need to retrofit new homes before 2050.
• There is much in the draft Future Homes and Buildings Standards that the LGA supports such as the end of fossil fuel heating and a commitment to electric heating.
• Solar PV on the rooftops of all new homes has the opportunity of making all new homes, net surplus energy generators. This in turn opens a huge opportunity for private investment into homes, cancelling out the increased upfront cost of development.
• We strongly support solar PV on the roof tops of all new homes as it can reduce the amount of land required for ground mounted solar. We also welcome the proposed Home Energy Model (HEM) as a replacement for Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).
• The Future Homes and Buildings Standard doesn’t currently say anything about embodied carbon in building fabric material. Embodied carbon in materials such as cement, steel and aluminium are significant, and the UK Green Buildings Council claims embodied carbon for the construction and refurbishment of buildings currently makes up 20% of UK built environment emissions.  We consider this to be a missed opportunity. 
• If a building proposed for Material Change of Use is not capable of achieving a similar level of thermal comfort for a similar cost of a home built or converted under the Future Homes and Buildings Standard, it should not be permitted to convert. The only way to ensure this is to remove the PD option from Material Change of Use.
• We consider that allowing councils to relax or dispense the rules where developers claim they are unreasonable or claim exceptional circumstances sends the wrong message. We would like to see further amendments made to the viability system – for example, removing the requirement to factor in an assumed developer or landowner return or removal of viability assessments as a material planning consideration entirely. 
• The Written Ministerial Statement of 13 December 2023 stated that, in the context of new energy efficiency standards coming forward (FHBS), the previous Government did not expect plan-makers to set local energy efficiency standards for buildings that go beyond current or planned building regulations. This written ministerial statement needs to be overturned or superseded if we wish to stop building homes that will need retrofitting in the future.
• Critical to the success of the Future Homes Standard is the reinforcement and expansion of the local electricity network which needs to happen in tandem with the implementation of the standard. Increasingly a lack of connection capacity to the local electricity network is holding back development and / or renewable energy generating projects. For the UK to meet its 2050 Net Zero target, demand for electricity will likely double (300TWh to 600TWh) and we require electricity generated from renewables to increase fivefold. This will put significant pressure on the transmission and distribution network which needs addressing urgently. The LGA welcomes the announcement of the Regional Energy Strategic Planners, but these will only be successful with significant engagement with councils.

Background

Performance requirements of new buildings

We welcome recognition, that with adequate ventilation, new homes insulated to the 2021 level will not generally experience damp or mould or excessive temperatures but ask that this is monitored and reviewed where experience suggests otherwise. Real life testing is important in ensuring that inhabited properties react the same as tested properties. Damp, mould, and overheating can have significant implications for people susceptible to breathing difficulties or just the very old or very young.

Metrics

We welcome the Home Energy Model (HEM) as a replacement for Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). Reducing energy demand for homes, protecting occupants against high energy bills, and encouraging homes to become net energy generators should be best facilitated alongside a zero-carbon energy supply.

Updated guidance and minimum standards

The LGA welcomed clarity that space heating and hot water demand is to be met through low-carbon sources and that fossil fuel heating and hydrogen ready and hybrid boilers will not meet the standard, both for domestic and non-domestic properties. This means most new dwellings will now be heated by a heat pump, heat network or a combination of the two. This sends a clear message to the market that should help increase the number of installers and start to bring down the cost of heat pumps.

We also support designing to limit heat loss from low carbon heating systems. Consideration should be given to the overall size of the property and the relative space required for hot water storage and insulation, but where available, high insulation and ample volume should be secured.

Material change of use

Dwellings created through material change of use should achieve the same level of thermal comfort for the same cost as new dwellings built under the FHBS. It is important that buildings converted to dwellings to reduce a housing crisis are not at the expense of an individual’s increased cost of living. This again could lead to a first- and second-class housing supply with those least able to pay, paying more. 

Utilising existing building stock is inherently a low carbon option, when considering embodied carbon, and should not be discouraged, but the standards of housing should always be maintained. 

The LGA does not support Permitted Development Rights (PD). The Government’s own research has highlighted how conversions to residential through change of use PD can fail to meet adequate design standards, avoid contributing to local areas and create worse living environments. Conversions to residential through this mechanism, which bypasses the full planning application process, affects vulnerable people disproportionately and can exacerbate existing inequalities.

If a building proposed for Material Change of Use is not capable of achieving a similar level of thermal comfort for a similar cost of a home built or converted under the Future Homes and Buildings Standard, it should not be permitted to convert.

Real world performance of homes

We fully support voluntary post occupancy performance testing for new homes, and the introduction of a Future Homes Standard brand that is only granted if developers’ homes perform as well as planned, when tested. Poor build quality of materials, poor installation and occupants using buildings in a way they were not designed for can only be examined through a post occupancy assessment. Poor build quality materials not only undermine the standard but leads to increased cost to the occupant. Lack of guidance for new heating and ventilation systems again leads to increased cost, misrepresentation of the standard and reduced life expectancy of the product.

Ensuring that heat pumps, hot water storage vessels and mechanical ventilation systems are being installed and commissioned well is essential for the success of the Future Homes Standard. We understand that self-certification increases commissioning capacity, but this should be subject to a regular review in the short to medium term to ensure standards are being upheld.

The LGA strongly supports the introduction of home user guides. These should be regularly reviewed for usefulness with a sample of occupiers. How easy and useful a home user guide will often be subject to the individual using the guide and therefore a cross section of society should form a focus and feedback loop. This could be part of a post occupancy review or stand alone.

Heat Networks

The LGA understands that heat networks have the potential to provide a cost-effective supply of low or zero carbon heat. Many of our members have significant experience of heat networks and the opportunity to supply heat through the lowest carbon heat source if often explored. 

The LGA supports having new homes and new non-domestic buildings be permitted to connect to heat networks, where they are supplying a sufficiently low carbon source of heat. It looks likely that councils will take on the role of Heat Network Zone Coordinator so they will be well placed to ensure that new-homes and new non-domestic buildings are located suitably for heat network connections.

Heat networks supplying heat that is not low carbon should either not be able to supply heat, or only be able to supply heat where there is a clear pathway to a zero-carbon heat source or the immediate future. 

Accounting for exceptional circumstance

We consider that allowing councils to relax or dispense the rules where developers claim they are unreasonable or claim exceptional circumstances sends the wrong message. The recent Written Ministerial Statement of 13 December 2023 stated that, in the context of new energy efficiency standards coming forward (FHBS), the Government does not expect plan-makers to set local energy efficiency standards for buildings that go beyond current or planned building regulations. 

Therefore, the written ministerial statement alongside the FHBS, now says, developers can claim exceptional circumstances, such as viability, and request a relaxation, but councils cannot set higher standards. We would like to see changes to the way viability is considered in the planning system – for example, removing the requirement to factor in an assumed developer or landowner return in viability assessments, or the removal of viability assessments altogether as a material planning consideration.

The only exception to this approach should be when Building Safety considers that meeting the FHBS would result in a building being potentially unsafe.

Overheating

Overheating is a considerable health issue and as we begin to experience the highest temperatures on record in the UK, a significant issue that requires addressing. Ad hoc feedback from our members suggests the implementation of Part O, to reduce the risk of overheating in new residential buildings, meets the standard but is not pleasing to the occupants as it often means fewer, smaller windows making rooms feel dark and enclosed.

Other European countries have been experiencing high temperatures for much longer than the UK and we would suggest there is much than can be learnt from their building designs – such as external window shutters, thick walls, and overhangs.

Dwellings from Material Change of Use are potentially at greater risk of overheating and building type specific regulations should be introduced. For example, recent office blocks would have been designed for mechanical cooling due to strict working condition requirements. Converting those types of building into multiple flats, with less air flow, is likely to result in considerable overheating. 

Equalities impact assessment

The LGA has a concern that, if not monitored, the Future Homes and Buildings Standard, as it was set out in the 2023-24 consultation, could lead to a first- and second-class housing supply with those least able to pay, paying more. For example, as it currently stands, dwellings coming from Material Change of Use are currently not required to meet the full standard. This potentially leaves the door open for cheap conversions resulting in a lower standard and higher cost of living. All residential properties should meet the minimum Future Homes and Buildings Standard.

Contact

Elliot Gregory
Public Affairs and Campaigns Advisor
Phone: 020 7664 3059 
Mobile: 07766252833
Email: [email protected]