New‑home green rules
England now requires solar panels and low‑carbon heating — including heat pumps — on new homes under updated building regulations, a major push to decarbonize housing stock. The rule change is expected to reshape specification decisions for developers, HVAC installers, and home buyers alike. (pv-magazine.com)
The government formally laid the Future Homes and Buildings Standards on 24 March 2026 and the secondary legislation takes effect on 24 March 2027 for non‑higher‑risk building work, with a 12‑month transition and a separate start of 24 September 2027 for higher‑risk work. ( gov.uk; parliament.uk ) Approved Document L (Volume 1: Dwellings, 2026 edition) adds a new functional requirement, Requirement L3, obliging new dwellings to provide a system of on‑site renewable electricity generation as the statutory route for compliance under Part L. ( assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ADL1_2026.pdf ) The government’s impact material and statements set an emissions target of at least a 75% reduction in operational carbon for new homes versus the 2013 Part L baseline, and ministers and industry briefings have cited potential household bill savings of up to about £830 per year for families in new‑build homes. ( parliament.uk; roofingtoday.co.uk ) Earlier consultation documents proposed a notional specification requiring PV area equivalent to 40% of a dwelling’s ground‑floor area, but ministers substituted a functional Requirement L3 so developers can demonstrate on‑site renewables in other technically appropriate ways while still expecting most new homes to deliver the equivalent of that PV provision. ( commonslibrary.parliament.uk; geowarmth.co.uk ) As part of the same package, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced regulatory moves to permit small “plug‑in” PV kits for mains connection and said the government expects such retail products to be available within months, with accompanying changes to wiring and microgeneration rules. ( gov.uk; questions-statements.parliament.uk ) The government has already committed a construction‑skills package — a £600 million programme to train up to 60,000 additional construction workers by 2029 — to help deliver the 1.5 million‑home building programme and the low‑carbon heating and PV installations the new standard requires. ( gov.uk; building.co.uk ) During the implementation window, compliance will be demonstrated using the new Home Energy Model (HEM) or SAP 10.3 as set out in the government’s published clarification and approved documents accompanying the Future Homes Standard. ( gov.uk )
