The Ministry of Housing and the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero have announced that the forthcoming Future Homes Standard (FHS), planned for publication in the autumn, will include a requirement for solar panels to be installed on all new build homes, wherever practical.
Ministers say that a typical existing UK home could save around 拢530 a year from installing rooftop solar, based on the current energy price cap.
While many have welcomed the news, others point out that it is not without problems.
Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK, is unsurprisingly in the former camp. He said: 鈥淭he solar industry is very glad to hear that almost all new homes will be fitted with solar power from under the Future Homes Standard. Making solar panels a functional requirement of the building regulations will cut energy bills, lower carbon emissions, help drive polluting natural gas off the grid and improve our nation鈥檚 energy security, too.鈥�
Charles Wood, deputy director of policy at Energy UK, is also keen. He said: 鈥淭he addition of rooftop solar to the Future Homes Standard is welcome and necessary in ensuring that homes built today are fit for the future. Building homes to the right standards now will deliver immediate benefits of warmer, more comfortable, and more cost-efficient homes, preventing the need to retrofit these properties later at higher costs to the customer.
鈥淭his change, alongside wider reforms to planning processes and network connections, will reduce bills for people in new build properties while also giving the industry confidence to invest in increased manufacturing and installer training as demand increases, creating jobs and bringing down technology costs for everyone.
鈥淓nsuring our future energy security relies on producing more British power, the electrification of our economy and cutting waste. The energy sector continues to deliver energy efficiency improvements and install low-carbon heating, generation, and transport technologies for households and businesses across the country.鈥�
However, Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), was less sanguine. He said: 鈥淭he 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.
鈥淚f 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.鈥�
He continued: 鈥淭he 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 拢530 a year in energy costs. The Future Homes Standard will provide flexibility for new homes surrounded by trees or with significant shading overhead.
Beresford鈥檚 colleague Rico Wojtulewicz, head of policy and market insight for both the NFB and sister organisation the House Builders Association (HBA), said: 鈥淚f 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.
鈥淣o house-builder 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.鈥�
聽Wojtulewicz continued: 鈥淭here 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.
聽鈥淟abour 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 1.5 million home target even harder to hit.鈥�
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