As the use of Heat Networks increase in UK cities, stories about unhappy residents have also increased. Common complaints are being locked into paying excessive charges for heating and maintenance, and unreliable heating systems that homeowners can't change.

Big changes are coming for the Building Safety Regulator that could shake things up for all corners of the construction industry, with a renewed focus on regulation, accreditation and responsibility.

The Design and Placemaking Planning Practice Guidance is essentially an illustrated version of the new, draft NPPF with clear examples of what the Government defines as a 'well-designed place'… essential knowledge for architects who want to stay on the right side of planning officers.

The Scottish Government has outlined plans to update Technical Handbook Section 6 to scrap SAP and further tighten fabric performance standards. They're calling it a 'PassivHaus equivalent standard'. Specific details and timeframes will be confirmed later this year, with the final ‘Go Live’ date already confirmed as 31st March 2028.

England's planning laws currently include 10 Statutory Consultees. Depending on what you're proposing to build, and where you're proposing to build it, these bodies have a legal obligation to review your proposals and comment on them.

The Government's standard response about the release of the Future Homes Standard has changed recently from 'Autumn 2025' to 'in the coming months'.

DEFRA has published a consultation into changing water efficiency targets in Approved Document Part G in England. There's also a Call For Evidence discussing further changes in the near future. The consultation is open until December 16th 2025.

The Welsh Government has released a consultation looking to change Approved Documents Part L, Part O and Part F, following in the footsteps of the Future Homes Standard policy in England. You've got until 17th November 2025 to respond.

Two new consultations into the future use of hydrogen have been published. One considers how we could build new infrastructure to specifically provide hydrogen energy to large industrial hubs. The second revisits old ground, and considers how we pump blend hydrogen into our existing mains gas supply.

This consultation gives details for what the new EPC metrics may prioritise when assessors switch to the Home Energy Model. Fabric performance is likely to become the primary metric. It's highly possible that the whole of the UK will adopt a similar strategy in the coming years.

The UK Government is considering streamlining the planning process for small developments to speed up the process for one-off projects. Current requirements like biodiversity, Section 106 and Build Out Transparency would be removed from small sites.

This proposed change to national planning policy would include a requirement for sites of 50+ dwellings to submit a build schedule as part of the planning application, and for developers to inform the council if timeframes are slipping.

The London Plan is being updated next year. In our world, this will likely mean stricter targets on embodied lifecycle and net zero targets, but will the Future Homes Standard influence the final text?

Car parks across England may need to have solar panel canopies installed under new proposals to increase renewable power generation.

A summary of what is proposed in the UK Government's EPC Reform consultation.

The 2025 PRS MEES consultation suggests increasing the minimum energy performance of privately owned dwellings, and increasing the amount of

The 2025 PRS MEES consultation suggests using new-style EPCs to judge whether a privately rented home will need upgrading for better energy

The 2025 PRS MEES consultation suggests increasing the minimum energy efficiency standards of privately rented homes, forcing landlords to i