Future Homes Standard: advising on schemes in progress
A planning permission gives no protection against a Part L uplift. How transitional provisions have operated, and how to design a scheme that works under either standard.
The Future Homes Standard attaches to the Building Regulations, not to your planning permission. That single fact answers most of the questions self-builders and small developers ask about schemes caught between consent and construction. A planning permission does not lock in an energy standard, and it does not protect a scheme from a later uplift to Part L. What decides which standard applies is when the building notice or full plans were submitted and when work actually started on that building.
Because commencement dates and transitional arrangements have moved more than once, verify the current position on gov.uk before making a decision that depends on it.
What the standard is expected to change
The direction of travel has been consistent for several years. New homes are expected to be built with substantially lower carbon emissions than the current standards deliver, with heating provided by low carbon systems rather than gas boilers, and with fabric performance and ventilation designed together.
For a self-builder the practical consequences group into three areas. The heating system and hot water strategy, which drives plant space, external unit locations and electrical capacity. The fabric specification, which drives wall thicknesses, junction detailing and airtightness targets. And ventilation, which becomes a design item rather than a set of trickle vents once airtightness improves.
Overheating is the fourth item and it is already in force under its own part of the Building Regulations. Deep plan flats, large south and west facing glazing and single aspect units all attract attention, and an Overheating Risk Assessment is increasingly requested at planning stage as well as being required for compliance.
Which consent the standard attaches to
Planning permission controls land use, design, layout and amenity. Building Regulations control construction standards, including conservation of fuel and power.
So a permission granted three years ago carries no protection at all against a Building Regulations uplift. The building will be built to whatever standard applies when it is notified and started.
The exception runs the other way. Local plan policies can require energy performance beyond the national minimum, secured by planning condition, and those requirements bind the scheme regardless of what the Building Regulations say. The extent to which local plans may set standards above the national ones for dwellings has been the subject of national statements more than once, so check the current position rather than an older policy note.
Where a planning condition requires an energy strategy, the Energy Statement submitted with the application becomes the benchmark, and changing the heating system afterwards may need a variation.
How transitional provisions have worked before
The 2021 uplift to Part L is the most useful precedent because it is recent and it is documented.
Under that arrangement, the previous standards continued to apply where a building notice, initial notice or full plans were given to the building control body before a stated date, provided the building work was started before a second date roughly a year later. The point people miss is that it applied building by building, not site by site. On a phased development, plots not started within the window fell under the new standards even though the same notice covered them.
Two lessons carry over. First, a notice on its own is not enough; there has to be a real start on the individual building. Second, "started" has a specific meaning for building control purposes that is not the same as the meaning of commencement in planning law, and the two are frequently confused.
Ask the building control body, in writing, what it will accept as a start for the building in question. Getting that answer after the deadline has passed is worth nothing.
Schemes with permission but no start on site
This is the position that generates the most anxiety, and the practical advice is fairly blunt.
If the scheme is ready and funded, and the transitional window is open, the notice and the start are worth pursuing on the timetable that the building control body confirms.
If the scheme is not ready, do not distort the project to chase a transitional provision. Building to a higher standard costs more in fabric and plant, and it produces a home with lower running costs, better comfort and a more saleable energy rating. The gap is narrower than it looks once the heat pump is priced against a boiler plus the works required to meet the fabric standards anyway.
What is worth doing either way is designing so the scheme works under both. That means allowing plant space and an external position for a heat pump, sizing the incoming electrical supply for it, checking that the wall build-up can gain thickness without breaching the approved footprint or eaves height, and avoiding a glazing strategy that only passes overheating with mechanical cooling.
A scheme whose planning drawings cannot absorb a thicker wall will need a section 73 application or a non-material amendment, which adds weeks. That is a real cost created entirely by drawing decisions made months earlier.
Design decisions worth making early
Six decisions repay attention before the planning drawings are finalised.
- Heating strategy, because an air source heat pump needs an external position that works acoustically and visually, and that position is a planning matter.
- Wall build-up, because a thicker wall changes the footprint, the eaves and the window reveals.
- Ventilation strategy, because mechanical ventilation with heat recovery needs duct routes and a plant location.
- Glazing area and orientation, because overheating is assessed on the as-designed geometry.
- Solar array position and area, which interacts with roof form and, in sensitive areas, with visual impact.
- Electrical capacity, since an all-electric home with a heat pump and a vehicle charger may need a supply upgrade with its own lead time.
The choice between gas and all-electric is increasingly made for other reasons anyway, and the trade-offs in the decision on a gas connection for new homes are worth working through before the heating strategy is fixed.
Where planning policy runs ahead of the national standard
Some local plans already require net zero carbon or a stated percentage improvement over Part L, with carbon offset payments where the on-site reduction falls short. London boroughs apply an energy hierarchy and reporting requirements through the London Plan, and several authorities elsewhere have adopted similar policies.
Where that applies, the local requirement is the binding one for planning purposes and it may exceed the national standard. The Sustainability Statement and energy work therefore have to be written against local policy first and the Building Regulations second.
Check whether the policy carries a monitoring or verification requirement after completion. Some do, and a condition requiring as-built evidence changes how the design has to be recorded during construction.
Verifying the position before you advise anyone
Three checks, in order.
Read the current Approved Document and the amending instrument on gov.uk, noting the transitional wording and any dates. Ask the building control body what it requires and by when for the specific buildings in question. Then read the decision notice and the adopted local plan policy, because the planning side may impose more than the national standard does.
Record the date of each check in your project file. Standards in this area have changed repeatedly, and an assumption carried over from a scheme completed two years ago is the commonest source of error.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which energy and sustainability documents your scheme is likely to need.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority, your building control body or a qualified professional before relying on it.
Frequently asked questions
Does my planning permission lock in the current energy standard?
No. Planning permission controls land use, design, layout and amenity. Conservation of fuel and power sits in the Building Regulations, so a building is constructed to whatever standard applies when it is notified and started. The only planning route to a higher standard is a local plan policy secured by condition.
How have transitional provisions worked in the past?
Under the 2021 Part L uplift, previous standards continued to apply where a building notice, initial notice or full plans were given before a stated date and the work on that building started before a later date. It applied building by building, so plots on a phased site not started in time fell under the new standards.
What counts as a start for transitional purposes?
Building control has its own test, and it is not the same as commencement for planning purposes. The two are regularly confused, with expensive results. Ask the building control body in writing what it will accept as a start for the specific building, and get the answer before the deadline rather than after it.
Should I rush to start to avoid a higher standard?
Only if the scheme is ready and funded. Distorting a project to chase a transitional window rarely pays. Building to the higher standard costs more in fabric and plant but produces lower running costs, better comfort and a better energy rating, and the cost gap narrows once fabric upgrades are priced in either way.
Which design decisions should be made before the planning drawings are fixed?
Heating strategy and the external heat pump position, wall build-up and its effect on footprint and eaves, ventilation routes and plant space, glazing area and orientation for overheating, solar array position, and incoming electrical capacity. Drawings that cannot absorb a thicker wall force a later variation application.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.