Ministers are poised to allow homes in England to be built without carbon-cutting technology in what experts have said is a climbdown after pressure from housebuilders.
The future homes standard (FHS), due to be published in January, will regulate how all homes are built and is expected to enforce tough new regulations such as mandating solar panels on nearly all houses and high standards of insulation and heat pumps in most cases.
But the Guardian has learned that the regulations are unlikely to stipulate that homes must be fitted with batteries, despite the strong advantages of combining renewable power generation with energy storage.
Jess Ralston, the head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank, said: “Batteries are really useful for ensuring that homes can use as much of their own power as possible – and that lowers bills, something the government says is a top priority. New-builds being built from 2027 without the latest cost-saving net zero tech may mean we’re not making the most of our own power, increasing bills and meaning we need more gas from abroad.”
The failure to mandate the installation of batteries, which have fallen dramatically in price, will reduce the efficiency savings for homeowners. Battery storage would cost an estimated £2,000 to £5,000 for each new home but result in longterm savings on energy bills. According to research last year by the MCS Foundation charity, the savings on an average three-bedroom, semi-detached home from having a heat pump, solar panels and batteries would amount to roughly £1,350 a year.
Heat pumps are still expected to be mandatory in all new-build homes in England as part of the future homes standard. Photograph: JulPo/Getty
Building the 1.5m new homes Labour has promised without batteries will also cut off potential advantages to the UK’s electricity grid. A large reserve of battery storage with smart meters could help make the grid more efficient, smoothing out supply and demand, which is particularly important when much more power is expected to come from intermittent sun and wind.
Housebuilders have been lobbying against the inclusion of batteries, which would entail an upfront cost to the developer, though they would save money for homeowners. Rhodri Williams, the technical director at the Home Builders Federation, said at this stage builders preferred alternatives such as “switch valves” or using excess solar power to heat water, neither of which stores electrical energy and does not help the grid.
He said: “Housebuilders have embraced every step of the journey towards zero carbon housing, including the FHS, from the very beginning. As a result, new-build homes emit a third of the carbon on average of equivalent-sized older properties, saving residents of new homes thousands of pounds in energy bills.”
Jan Rosenow, a professor of energy at Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute, said failing to include batteries was a “missed opportunity … installing a battery at the point of construction is cheaper and less disruptive than retrofitting later”.
He added: “Housing developers in this country have a track record of pushing back against requirements that enhance energy performance of homes. We have seen this with insulation, heat pumps and other technologies. Ultimately, it will be to the detriment of the homebuyer.”
Garry Felgate, the chief executive of the MCS Foundation, said the future homes standard “could be a gamechanger”, resulting in savings of more than £1,000 a year on energy bills even without batteries, and generating as much electricity for the UK as two nuclear power stations.
Ministers are expected to announce the “warm homes plan” at the same time as the future homes standard, setting out how to insulate England’s draughty housing.
Felgate said the government should also publish clearer proposals on how to move the UK away from dependency on gas for heating. “It is clear that renewables are the future for powering our homes,” he said. “The government must now set out plans to phase out fossil fuel boilers in existing homes and decommission the gas grid, to provide further confidence to the renewables sector and the public.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Our future homes standard is in development and will be published early next year [2026]. This will ensure our new homes are warmer and more affordable and help us to meet our net zero target by 2050.”
