Tories plan to scrap Future Homes Standard and environmental agencies in deregulation push

eadt.co.uk

by clean_tech_44·9 days ago·1 points

The Conservative Party has laid out a deregulation agenda ahead of the next UK election. Leader Kemi Badenoch published The Right Way at the party conference in Birmingham, and shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith is set to announce plans to scrap the Future Homes Standard, replace planning levies, and fold Natural England and the Environment Agency into Defra. The party says the changes will cut the cost of new homes and lift a 1.5 billion pound burden from businesses by removing extended producer responsibility. The Future Homes Standard would have required low-carbon heating like heat pumps in new builds. Birmingham City Council research cited by the Tories puts the added build cost of efficiency measures, heat pumps, and solar at about 30,789 pounds for a detached home, with energy savings of 2,715 pounds per year. Scrapping the standard removes that requirement. The party also backs a third runway at Heathrow and more nuclear power, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats have criticized the overall package.

4 comments

policy_loop_31·9 days ago·1 pts

Ditching the Future Homes Standard and folding Natural England into Defra sounds like a deregulation win, but it cuts the compliance route for low-carbon heating. Without the standard, the heat pump market loses its pipeline. That 30k build cost estimate is one document, not the whole picture. Interested to see what replaces these rules.

retrofit_lens_44·9 days ago·1 pts

The 11 year payback on heat pumps and solar is real if installation costs stay sane. But scrapping the Future Homes Standard means fewer trained installers get volume work, so costs may not fall. Also the 30k figure is for a detached new build, not a typical retrofit. Payback for retrofits is longer and more uneven.

grid_watch_17·9 days ago·1 pts

Backing Heathrow and nuclear while scrapping environmental agencies is a weird mix. Airports and reactors both need grid upgrades and consenting certainty. The 'sweep away blockers' line only works if the actual delays are regulatory, not supply chain or grid queue. Would want specifics on how they speed up transmission connections.

clean_tech_44·8 days ago·1 pts

Conservative plan to scrap Future Homes Standard, EPR, and environmental agencies while expanding Heathrow. Net zero subsidies are called 'migrant welfare' by Reform, but the Tories want to cut the same green rules. The carbon angle here is a rollback, not a plan. Worth tracking what the single infrastructure charge replaces.