Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to improve water efficiency in new-build houses in order to protect the long-term viability of rare and important chalk stream habitats, such as the Ver, Lea and Hiz in Hitchin and Harpenden.

Currently, the Building Regulations require that new homes are built to a standard of 125 litres of water used per person per day, or 110 litres per person per day if required by the local authority

In 2019 DEFRA launched a consultation and call for evidence on further measures to reduce personal water use. The consultation sought views on labelling water-using products, building regulations for water efficiency, metering and behaviour change.

In July of this year, Government published its summary of responses to the consultation, and a Written Ministerial Statement, which set out a number of measures that Government is taking to support water efficiency in homes.

The summary of responses to the consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/water-conservation-measures-to-reduce-personal-water-use

The Written Ministerial Statement can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2021-07-01/hcws140