After more than a decade of consultation, the Future Homes Standard has landed: from 2028, developers of new homes in England will be required to install solar PV and a low-carbon heat source — typically a heat pump or connection to a heat network — on every new build.
New homes will no longer be connected to the gas grid, and roofs will need to accommodate solar panels covering an area equivalent to 40% of the building's ground-floor footprint, subject to specific exemptions.
Why now
The Energy Secretary has framed the move as an energy-security measure as much as a climate one, citing recent geopolitical events as evidence that clean, on-site power is now 'essential' rather than aspirational.
The BBC reports the changes are expected to add roughly £10,000 to a developer's build cost — a number that will inevitably be debated, but which is broadly consistent with bottom-up Future Homes Standard cost modelling we've seen on commercial residential schemes.
What developers and landlords should be doing now
Schemes targeting 2028+ completion should already be designing in PV-ready roofs, heat-pump plant space and the electrical capacity to support both. Retrofitting these once steel and slab are committed is dramatically more expensive than designing for them at RIBA Stage 2.
For mixed-use and BTR portfolios there's also a wider strategic question: with on-site generation effectively mandatory on new stock, the gap between new-build and existing assets will widen. That changes the MEES upgrade calculus on older buildings — and the timing of when to invest.
How we help
We support developers and asset managers with feasibility, PV yield modelling, DNO liaison and Future Homes Standard compliance strategy across multi-site portfolios — from single plots up to national rollouts.
Source: Planning Portal — 27 March 2026