What to Expect From the Future Homes Standard

The Future Homes Standard (FHS) will reshape how new homes in England are designed, heated and powered from 2025, targeting 75–80% lower carbon emissions than homes built to earlier regulations and aiming to make them “zero‑carbon ready.” For homeowners, developers and installers, that means a world of super‑insulated fabric, low‑carbon heating such as heat pumps, and much wider use of solar PV and home energy technologies.

Future Homes Standard Key Aims

The FHS is a package of new regulations for new‑build homes in England, designed to drastically cut carbon from space heating, hot water, lighting and fixed services. Government guidance and industry summaries state that new homes will be expected to deliver 75–80% lower operational carbon emissions compared with homes built to 2013 Part L standards, while remaining affordable and comfortable.

A central idea is that FHS homes will be “zero‑carbon ready”: built with efficient fabric and all‑electric, low‑carbon technologies so that, as the national grid decarbonises, no major retrofit is needed for the dwelling to operate at or near net‑zero emissions. In practice, this means gas boilers – including so‑called hydrogen‑ready units – will not comply, and low‑carbon heat sources like heat pumps become standard.

What Changes in Building Fabric and Performance?

Under the FHS, new homes must achieve significantly better fabric efficiency than under previous regulations, reflected in tighter targets for U‑values, airtightness and thermal bridging. Guidance notes highlight higher insulation levels in walls, roofs and floors, improved detailing around junctions, and stricter control of unintended air leakage to cut heat loss and improve comfort.

Compliance will be assessed against updated performance metrics, such as the Dwelling Primary Energy Rate, Dwelling Fabric Energy Efficiency and Dwelling Emission Rate, moving beyond simple carbon factors to a more holistic view of energy use and envelope performance. The current SAP methodology is due to be replaced with the Home Energy Model (HEM) as the core compliance tool for new homes, which will better reflect modern technologies and usage patterns.​

Heating, Hot Water and Ventilation under FHS

One of the most visible changes for homeowners will be the shift away from fossil fuel boilers to low‑carbon heating systems, primarily air‑source and ground‑source heat pumps. Government‑linked guidance and industry commentators note that heat pumps are expected to become the default heating system in new homes, due to their much lower emissions per unit of delivered heat when combined with a decarbonising electricity grid.

Because highly insulated, airtight homes can be prone to overheating or poor air quality if not designed properly, the FHS also tightens requirements under Part F (ventilation) and related overheating regulations. Developers will need to integrate mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) or carefully designed natural/boost ventilation to maintain indoor air quality while keeping heat losses low. For Atlantic Renewables’ customers, this will increasingly mean pairing low‑carbon heat sources with controlled ventilation and careful system commissioning to maintain comfort.

Role of Solar PV Battery Storage and EV Charging

The FHS sits alongside a wider policy drive for new homes to include on‑site renewable generation, especially solar PV. Solar Energy UK’s response to the FHS consultation shows that the notional specification effectively assumes a higher density of PV, with a revised conversion factor corresponding to around 222 W/m² of panel power – a roughly 45% increase in assumed PV power density compared with earlier notional homes. Some guidance for housing providers explicitly states that most new homes will be expected to include solar PV as standard alongside clean heating systems, to reach the 75–85% carbon reduction target.

For developers, that means designing roofs with PV‑friendly pitches and orientations, leaving space for arrays and routing cabling sensibly for future battery storage. Industry advice also stresses the importance of battery storage so households can maximise the benefit of their solar generation and manage peak tariffs more effectively, rather than exporting much of their output during low‑value daytime periods. In parallel, new regulations around electric vehicle charge points already require many new homes to have at least one charger or the wiring in place, which dovetails with the FHS vision of all‑electric, electrified transport‑ready dwellings.

As an MCS‑certified solar and battery installer, Atlantic Renewables expects FHS‑compliant homes to increasingly be specified with integrated solar PV, battery storage and EV charging, designed as a coherent energy system from day one rather than as bolt‑ons later.

What Homeowners and Developers Should Expect Next

For developers, the FHS will mean:

• Re‑thinking house types and specifications, with more focus on fabric first, integrated low‑carbon technologies and robust as‑built performance testing.
• Close collaboration with MCS‑certified installers for solar PV and battery systems, as these will be central to hitting the required primary energy and emission metrics under HEM.
• More detailed handover and maintenance plans for homeowners, especially around solar, batteries and heat pumps, to ensure systems perform as modelled for many years.

For future homeowners, the FHS should translate into:

• Lower energy bills and more comfortable homes, thanks to high insulation levels and efficient, controllable heating.
• Greater opportunity to generate and store their own electricity, with solar PV and batteries sized to match their lifestyle and EV charging needs.​
• A more resilient home that is already aligned with the UK’s journey to net zero by 2050, reducing the risk of expensive retrofits later in the property’s life.​

Atlantic Renewables expects that, over time, retrofit demand will also grow as owners of existing homes seek to upgrade towards FHS‑like performance, using combinations of solar PV, battery storage, heat pumps and fabric improvements guided by evolving standards and potential future Fabric Energy Efficiency Schemes.​

To discuss your new-build property or development solar PV requirements, contact Atlantic Renewables today on 0161 207 4044 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..