What you need to know about the Future Homes Standard

The New Year is the perfect time for plumbing and heating installers to consider what’s next for our industry. With significant changes on the horizon, 2025 promises to be a landmark year for our industry, bringing with it new challenges, new solutions and new ways of working as the role of plumbing and heating in improving home efficiency comes into every greater focus.

As we know, our industry is shaped largely by regulation, but it is the plumbers on the front line and the innovative solutions they install that make advancements in performance and efficiency possible.

That’s why, in this blog, we’re going to take a look at the highly anticipated Future Homes Standard to see what it means for installers – and consider some of the solutions that will contribute towards a successful impact.

In the simplest of terms, the Future Homes Standard is all about maximising efficiency to reduce the impact of homes on our environment. It will come into force in 2025, setting new standards for efficiency in new and existing homes.

Currently, houses collectively account for around a fifth of the UK’s total emissions, so it’s clear that if the UK is to achieve net-zero by 2050, addressing the efficiency of homes will be critical.  

The Future Homes Standard will promote efficiency through almost every aspect, with the long-term goal of reducing emissions from our new and existing housing stock.

It’s much more straightforward to build for efficiency when constructing a property, than it is to retrofit an existing home. The full detail of the Future Homes Standard has not yet been published, but for new homes we anticipate:

• A requirement for new build homes to install low carbon heat sources, moving away from gas boilers
• A greater focus on renewable energy, with solar panels and other renewable technologies becoming familiar features of new homes
• A greater focus on energy efficient solutions throughout the home, including underfloor heating, which operates at a lower flow temperature than a radiator system – expect to see more demand for underfloor heating from plumbing and heating installers once the Future Homes Standard comes into force

Remember, most of the homes that will be occupied in 2050 – which is the UK’s target for net zero to be achieved – are already being lived in today. That means a big part of the challenge is decarbonising our existing housing stock, which is amongst the least efficient in Europe.

The focus here will be on modifying and improving existing properties to make them more efficient and reduce their environmental impact. Lots of the solutions that apply in new builds also apply here, but implementation can be more challenging, and more expensive.

Solutions like JG LowFit underfloor heating make it easier to retrofit efficient heating systems, designed for easier installation and removing many of the complexities typically associated with planning, floor height build-up and operation.

The Future Homes Standard has been in consultation and development since 2020, so it’s a term that most professionals are familiar with. However, as we get closer to its implementation, there will naturally be some questions from plumbing and heating installers.

When will the Future Homes Standard be enforced?

The Government first committed to introducing a Future Homes Standard by 2025 back in 2019, at which point the first consultation was released.

Various consultations, including one on technical specification, have been undertaken since then, and we’ve seen significant changes to Part L of the Building Regulations. This paved the way for the full introduction of the Future Homes Standard, which is expected in 2025.

All new build homes will need to comply with the regulations and existing homes will require upgrades when appropriate. Support will likely be available to guide installers through the changes, as we’re already seeing through schemes such as the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

Due to the change in Government in 2024, the official implementation of the Future Homes Standard is yet to be confirmed, but Labour has said it is committed to improving home efficiency.

How can plumbers prepare for changes?

The most important thing is to keep up to date with the announcements from Government, which are expected in early 2025. The changes to Part L served as a ‘soft launch’ for the Future Homes Standard, so it’s expected that most plumbing and heating installers will be able to adapt seamlessly to the changes.

Take the opportunity to identify any gaps in your knowledge and upskill so you can continue to support your customers effectively. This might include training on heat pump installation and operation or learning more about underfloor heating if you’re not already installing low temperature systems. We’ve produced a handy eGuide to support you – you can access it for free here.