Evolving Utilities: The Revolution in Housebuilding

Our recent Aptus Academy Workshop brought together people from across our business at different stages of their career, to learn more about the business strategy and changes within the industry.

During the workshop business development director, Dan Owen, and technical manager, Adrian Cunningham, discussed upcoming changes to our sector, the journey towards net zero, and the impact of new technologies. Here they outline some of the key takeaways from the session.

In recent years there have been numerous changes in our sector, many of which are related to the government’s plan to achieve net zero by 2050 in addition to setting a target to build 300,000 new homes each year. For the construction sector and ancillary businesses, the targets and roadmap are ambitious.

At the Academy Workshop, many of those beginning their careers had a range of questions about how government decarbonisation plans and the changes taking place would affect their roles. One attendee, who has recently been awarded gas certification, was concerned about how the move away from gas would impact his prospects in the years ahead.

The Future Homes and Buildings Standard

The Future Homes and Buildings Standard is set to come into force next year, with Part L covering the conservation of fuel and power in the building of new homes. The rules require every new residential dwelling built from 2025 to produce 75% lower carbon emissions compared to current levels. This huge reduction is to be achieved by using lower carbon heating and other measures including the installation of efficient lighting and water management systems. Crucially, the changes will apply on a per plot basis, rather than the site as a whole.

Lower carbon dwellings

In line with the above, the government has ambitious plans to phase out 80% of gas boilers by 2035. The UK is hugely reliant on gas, with 85% of households depending on gas to heat their homes. The prospect of gas heating no longer being the norm is a huge shift, and as a business responsible for designing and installing the infrastructure of the future, our teams have been working alongside our clients, considering and planning for this change for some time.

Delays

A recent Guardian article highlighted the delay of housing projects caused by an infrastructure crisis because of a lack of capacity in the National Grid. This has led to building schemes for thousands of homes being put on hold, while new projects have faced delays of up to four years because of the queue of developers waiting to be connected. In a similar vein, those hoping to build wind turbines and solar farms have faced huge delays due to the deluge of connection requests.

Achieving targets

It’s clear that the only way housebuilders will be able to achieve targets – and the UK achieve its net zero ambition – is for further infrastructure investments and policy changes which will ensure the network is ready for 2050.

Published on 1st August 2024