Written question WQ95607

The conveyance, shipping and supply of gas are reserved matters. It is, therefore, for the UK Government to determine if it wishes to legislate in this area. It is clear we will need to move away from using fossil fuels for heating, cooling and cooking if we are going to meet our climate change targets. As set out in our Heat Strategy, our short term actions are focused on creating an enabling framework for the transition to low-carbon and affordable heat.

In terms of new buildings, Part L of the Building Regulations are the means by which we regulate for minimum energy efficiency standards. In 2022, we made a significant and necessary step change in energy and carbon performance in new housing, which introduced a 37% reduction in carbon emissions for new dwellings (compared with previous standards). In addition, all new homes also need to be future-proofed, to make it easier to retrofit low carbon heating systems (unless a low carbon heating system is fitted).

In 2023, we took another significant and necessary step regarding energy and carbon performance in non-domestic buildings, which introduced a 28% reduction in carbon emissions for new buildings (compared with previous standards).

Both improvements are a stepping stone towards the next changes to energy efficiency standards in Building Regulations. To provide a clear vision to industry, our previous Part L consultation highlighted that all new homes will require a low carbon heating system to meet the proposed Part L 2025 standard. We also highlighted our vision to shift new non-domestic buildings to use low carbon heat sources for heating and hot water.

The Part L 2025 review has commenced, and a public consultation is expected later this year, which will contain the full technical details of the proposals.