What does the Election Results mean for Part L?

In recent weeks we’ve published many articles about proposed changes to Building Regulations in England.

The Future Homes Standard and Approved Documents L (energy efficiency) and F (ventilation) have been up for debate and cover plenty of topics that impact Energist’s services, but every one of these articles to date has been heavily caveated with ‘if’s and ‘maybe’s – all because we weren’t sure how long the previous Government was going to last, and whether their plans for introducing changes would ever see the light of day.

Following last week’s election, the stalemate in Government has been resolved. And whether you’re in favour of the new look Westminster or not, one thing is for certain: it’s full steam ahead on those Building Regulation changes.

With a dominant Conservative force in Parliament, we can be sure that the proposals they released back in Autumn will now be carried forward.

This means we will see significant changes to Approved Document Part L in England. This will cover tougher carbon emission targets, new energy targets and could bring in the introduction of a fuel bill target.

We will also see changes to Part F. This means greater clarity on which ventilation systems are best for which build types, introducing checks to improve air quality and to reduce external noises and pollutants from entering a dwelling.

You can read more about these changes in our earlier articles.

Just days after the election results were known, the public consultation on the Future Homes Standard was extended by a month – you now have until February 7^th 2020 to have your say about the new Building Regulations.

You can download documents and submit feedback here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-homes-standard-changes-to-part-l-and-part-f-of-the-building-regulations-for-new-dwellings [external link]

As well as having clarity on the first steps of the Future Homes Standard, we also know a second wave of announcements will be released soon – maybe within weeks.

The information that’s been released so far only considers new build dwellings. The next part will set out how the Government intends to tackle energy efficiency in projects involving existing buildings, change of use schemes and non-domestic buildings.

We are also expecting the Government to set out proposals for introducing an overheating category into English building regulations for the first time.

Although the consultation period has been extended by a month which may delay the rest of the process, it’s still possible that we’ll see changes to the Approved Documents before the end of 2020.

Keep an eye out for upcoming Energist articles as the next wave of Future Homes Standard changes are published.