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FUTURE HOMES: Government announces regulations for ‘rooftop revolution’ and planning for more heat pumps

Tue, 07/29/2025 - 17:13
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Ahead of the autumn publication of the Future Homes Standard (FHS), Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has announced that it will include Building Regs changes to ensure that new-build homes will have solar panels by default, in what he termed “a monumental step in unleashing this rooftop revolution as part of our Plan for Change.” On 29 May, changes to permitted development rights also made it easier to obtain Planning consent for domestic heat pumps.

We’ve outlined below what details we now know about the FHS:

Solar PV:

  • The changes outlined will maximise the use of solar energy through the Future Homes Standard.   
  • In 2023, the previous Government proposed that new-build homes would either need solar panel coverage equivalent to 40% of the building’s floor area or none at all. This approach would have allowed for too many exemptions and no solar being installed on these developments.  
  • The Government is intending to bring forward rigorous proposals, that if developers cannot meet 40% coverage, they would still be required to install a reasonable amount of solar coverage. 
  • Under this proposal, it would be a functional requirement of the Building Regulations that new homes, with rare exceptions, are built with renewable electricity generation. In the vast majority of cases, we expect this would be solar panels.    
  • The final Future Homes Standard is expected to be published this autumn.     

Air Source Heat Pumps:

The changes to permitted development rights, which came into force in England on Thursday 29 May cover: 

  • removing the 1m boundary rule, enabling air source heat pumps to be installed within 1m of the property boundary.
  • increasing the size limit of the heat pump for dwellinghouses from 0.6m3 to 1.5m3.
  • doubling the number of heat pumps permitted per detached dwellinghouse, from 1 to 2.
  • allowing for air source heat pumps that can be used for cooling as well as heating – facilitating the role out of air-to-air models – and providing consumers more choice.

Modern heat pumps are generally perceived as quiet and typically no louder than a fridge. When installed under a permitted development right, they must also comply with a noise assessment methodology which includes an upper noise limit assessed at the nearest neighbouring habitable room window or door, as part of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Planning Standard.

Future Homes Standard- what to expect:

  • The FHS will be published in full this Autumn.
  • The Future Homes Hub believes that legislation will come into effect in December 2026 with a 12 month Transitional Provisions period, leading to all new homes built to Part L FHS in 2028.
  • Solar PV will be required by default on the majority of new homes and gas will not be permitted.
  • The new energy calculation methodology, Home Energy Model (HEM), will be released in two phases, a ‘limited capability’ version in July / August and the fully functional version in the Autumn.
  • Alongside HEM, an updated version of the current methodology SAP with the FHS notional specification, would be available for a limited period.

For more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rooftop-solar-for-new-builds-to-save-people-money