The Government has announced that as part of the Future Homes Standard (FHS), building regulations will be amended to explicitly promote the installation of solar panels on new homes for the first time, subject to practical limits.
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said:
“The main barriers to mandating solar panels on all new buildings are grid costs and grid delays. Although not yet fully resolved, the Government have made real progress to fixing those issues, particularly through changes to the connection process, and planning reforms that ensure grid infrastructure funding goes further and faster.
If grid connections are timely and not cost prohibitive, solar for new buildings is deliverable and we support that ambition. We urge the Government to ensure planning is reformed so that councils cannot oppose solar on the grounds of being out of character.”
The Government have said that solar panels will be included in the FHS, leading to installation on the vast majority of new build homes and saving the typical existing UK household around £530 a year in energy costs. The Future Homes Standard will provide flexibility for new homes surrounded by trees or with significant shading overhead.
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight for the NFB and House Builders Association (HBA), said:
“If we want to avoid harming local builders, delaying tens of thousands of homes and putting a leash on growth, the Government needs to mirror the recommendations we achieved in relation to electric vehicle charging. This would mean implementing a cost cap on solar installations which fully funds the panels and includes a nominal charge for grid connection and reinforcement. The energy sector would pay the difference, or if no connection is available, they would cover the entire connection cost when one is available.
No housebuilder should be in a position where they are only able to provide connections for part of their site, receive no written promises on the date of connections and grid reinforcement, pay for temporary connections and then again for permanent ones, or be forced to fund infrastructure that the energy sector profits from in perpetuity. Yet this is the present situation and as we electrify all new buildings, more projects will be impacted.
Another tax on housebuilders is also a tax and burden on the entire construction industry, because contractors are paid by clients, who with shrinking levels of funding, pay less, pay late or scrap projects entirely.”
Wojtulewicz, continued:
“There has been no impact assessment on the cost of grid reinforcement and no recognition of delays. In 2023, we warned that there would be a substantial impact on supply and affordability of homes. In 2025, with higher build costs, longer planning delays and housebuilders going out of business, we double down on our concerns.
Labour is trying to fix the mess the Conservatives left them, but without fair caveats to this policy, it will only weaken the broader construction industry and make the 1.5million home target even harder to hit.”