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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to ensure that building regulations take into account the need for homes to be resilient to extreme (a) heat and (b) cold.

A new requirement was introduced as part of the Building Regulations in 2021 to reduce the risk of overheating in new residential buildings. The requirement came into effect in June 2022 and means that new residential buildings must now be designed in such a way as to reduce overheating. The Future Homes and Buildings Standard consultation was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. It sought views on whether the current overheating standards are appropriate or require amendment. We are reviewing proposals and feedback from the consultation and will publish the Government response in due course.

An uplift to the energy efficiency standards for new homes was also introduced in 2021. This uplift delivered a significant increase in fabric standards, including insulation standards, and came into effect in June 2022. New homes built to the 2021 standards will be warm, comfortable and resilient to extreme cold.