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The Future Homes Standard (FHS) comes into force this year – here’s what you need to know.
Heating and powering buildings account for around 40% of the UK’s annual energy use, so this is a critical action area for the government’s net zero ambitions. The Future Homes and Buildings Standard – known as the FHS – will come into force in 2025 to ensure that new homes built in England will produce 75-80% fewer carbon emissions than those built under current Building Regs.
What is the timeline of the FHS so far?
The FHS was first announced in the government’s spring statement in 2019. It consulted on the FHS between 2019 and 2020, and on its technical proposals for meeting the standard from November 2023 to March 2024. The final specifications for the FHS, including an implementation date, will be announced in 2025.
What does the FHS involve?
The FHS aims to decarbonise new homes in England by improving heating and hot water systems, and reducing heat waste. This will require action in five key build areas:
- Better fabric efficiency, with enhanced air tightness, thermal bridge reduction and higher R values for walls, floors and roofs to improve insulation levels.
- Low carbon heating and hot water systems, such as air and ground source heat pumps. Gas boilers will not be compliant with the FHS.
- EV charging infrastructure, with new homes having one charging point installed, or at least the necessary cabling fitted to allow for future installation.
- Better ventilation, with MEV and MVHR encouraged to provide effective ventilation without compromising the air tightness of the building.
- Consideration for renewables, although it’s not clear yet exactly what this requirement will look like (more on this below).
Ahead of the FHS, the government updated Parts F and L of the current Building Regulations at the end of 2021. Updates to Part F introduced new standards for ventilation, while Part L sets out minimum U-values and energy efficiency conditions. These more rigorous requirements have applied to UK homes since June 2022, and will also be part of the FHS.
How will FHS compliance be measured?
Improvements will be measured around three main metrics:
- The Dwelling Primary Energy Rate (DPER) – the building’s energy consumption
- The Dwelling Fabric Energy Efficiency (DFER) – how well the building fabric performs thermally
- The Dwelling Emission Rate (DER) – the CO2 emissions of the building
Developers will demonstrate compliance with the FHS through the new Home Energy Model (HEM) software, which will replace the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) currently used for modelling building energy consumption. Unlike SAP – which uses monthly modelling – HEM breaks the year into half-hourly chunks, to more accurately and dynamically calculate energy use.
Could the current FHS proposals change?
Various metrics and specifications were considered during the government’s FHS consultation, and of the five original contender specifications, it’s now come down to a choice of two. Many parties, including the UKGBC, claim these represent the two ‘weakest’ options, making the FHS a missed opportunity for net zero action within the industry.
In short, option one proposes the use of photovoltaic panels and waste water heat recovery systems, while option two only encourages the adoption of these technologies, and suggests that new homes should incorporate features such as ‘pre-wiring’ and ‘space allocation’ for solar panels. Uncertainty around the inclusion of solar panels in the FHS sparked media backlash towards the end of 2024, leading to the government publishing an official blog post on its position.
When will the final FHS be announced?
As of January 2025, it’s not yet known when the new standard will be formally introduced. However, May 2025 has consistently been the target date for the deployment of the HEM, so it seems unlikely that the FHS – which will depend on this software – will come into force before this time.
Additionally, the full government process of publishing the final regulations – taking into account internal scrutiny and cabinet clearance – will take around five months. As such, we might expect an announcement in the early summer. The 2023 consultation also proposes a six to 12-month transition period, to give the industry time to get to grips with the new regs.
Have any FHS properties been built yet?
While developers are understandably cautious about committing to FHS standards before they’re been officially finalised, there are a few pilot projects in the works, designed to showcase the net zero homes of the future.
One project is a collaboration between The University of Salford, housebuilders Barratt Developments and Bellway, and construction solutions provider Saint-Gobain. The project saw two prototype homes built and put through rigorous fabric testing, with key findings being used to develop a net zero roadmap for housebuilders in the UK.
Elsewhere, Taylor Wimpey has launched a trial of five prototypes on a ‘live’ development site in Sudbury, Suffolk. The homes combine an array of innovative, low carbon technologies, designed to demonstrate how the industry can deliver FHS-compliant homes at scale.
To learn more about the Future Homes Standard, visit elementalLONDON, the UK’s leading event for advancing the efficiency of buildings, for the specification community, on 19-20 November at Excel, London. To register for your free ticket, click here.
