Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of deploying water efficiency technologies in the delivery of new homes as part of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

Building Regulations require all new homes to meet a water efficiency standard of 125 litres per person per day (l/p/d). Local planning authorities can set higher standards through the preparation of local plans as set out in national planning guidance on Housing: Optional Technical Standards. This optional technical standard, of 110 litres l/p/d, can be implemented through local plan policies where there is a clear local need such as local water scarcity or other environmental considerations.

We are working alongside Defra and the Building Safety Regulator to tighten water efficiency in new developments and retrofits. This will help meet the target set by the Environment Act 2021 to reduce the use of public water supply in England per head of the population by 20% by 2038.