Housing experts have given a cautious welcome to the government’s long-awaited plans to consolidate housing regulations and standards, but said lack of detail meant it was difficult to properly assess the impact of the proposals published this week.
The proposals will see the setting up of a new space standard “where it’s needed by councils”, the scrapping of the Code for Sustainable Homes, and its performance standards integrated instead into Building Regulations.
Communities minister Stephen Williams claimed that the review would reduce 100 standards to fewer than 10, bringing down the number of pages of guidance from 1,000 to fewer than 100, saving councils and developers both time and money.
In a welcome move, the government is to bring the current range of performance standards into the Building Regulations, but stops short of a blanket ban on authority-imposed regulations.
Under the changes, the new system will include “optional building regulations”, with councils deciding whether they apply to developments being built in their areas.
These could include:
- water efficiency – where a different standard may be available for areas facing water shortages, potentially saving households £100 a year in bills.
- accessibility – where different standards may be needed for homes to be accessible for older people and wheelchair users, with optional building regulations that developers would need to abide by where it was applied.
The minister also confirmed that the government would develop a national space standard to be available to councils where there was a need and where this would not stop development. This would replace the variety of different space standards which are currently required by councils.
Little Kelham is a low carbon development in Sheffield. Energy efficiency standards will now be set through national building regulations
The government will also take forward development of a new standard for security in new homes, based on current industry best practice, to be applied either nationally or on the basis of local need, and based on evidence of cost-effectiveness.
Currently, in addition to existing Building Regulations, councils can also follow the "Merton Rule" example and impose locally-set targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy – imposing extra costs on new homes and leading to confusion and variation across the country.
Instead, with a new zero carbon homes standard coming into force from 2016, building on strengthened energy efficiency requirements in Building Regulations in 2010 and 2013, national standards have been catching up and overtaking local targets. In the future, energy efficiency standards will be set through national building regulations.
But new measures also include scrapping rules that require house builders to get the same work checked by a range of different organisations.
"The industry will benefit from this new level of national consistency, which should also ensure that standards are well drafted and achieve the quality outcomes for which they were intended."
Mark Farmer, EC Harris
Mark Farmer, head of residential at EC Harris, said: “We welcome today’s announcement which is a further step towards improved housing standards and supporting house builders to reduce the national housing shortfall.
“Improved accessibility, water, energy and security standards are likely to be welcomed by most and today’s statement indicates that only standards emerging from the review process will be permitted in future. The industry will benefit from this new level of national consistency, which should also ensure that standards are well drafted and achieve the quality outcomes for which they were intended.
“While the indication that the Code for Sustainable Homes will be wound down may be controversial, it is clear that the Building Regulations and other protections are intended to maintain carbon reduction and environmental targets. We look forward to the final details and the continued support from government in implementing new and improved standards.”
Rory Bergin, partner at HTA Design, said the ministerial statement was lacking in detail and the whole area around transitional arrangements was vague. “We certainly need to see more detail, at the moment it’s likely to create more uncertainty.”
Bergin added: “We were hoping that they would develop space standards with space labelling so customers are informed what they are buying. There is confirmation that they will develop a space standard but there is not detail about when and how.”
The minister added: “The government will issue a statement later this year when the new standards are published, which will explain how this policy will be implemented. This means that many of the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes will be consolidated into Building Regulations, which would require substantial changes to the content of the current Code, as well as a reconsideration of its role.
“In the light of this, the government thinks that the current Code will need to be wound down to coincide with the changes incorporating the new standards coming into force. The government will make further announcements on the transitional arrangements, and the handling of legacy developments being built out to current Code requirements. The government is also interested in hearing from industry as to the value of elements of the Code being taken forward on a voluntary basis.
Shelagh Grant, chief executive of the Housing Forum, said: “We look forward to seeing the space standard proposals in due course – at the moment there is a lack of detail.”
