Planning, building and the environment

Code for Sustainable Homes

Code for sustainable homes logo

On 27 February 2008 the Government confirmed that a rating against the Code will be mandatory from 1 May 2008.

The Code measures the sustainability of a new home against nine categories of sustainable design, rating the 'whole home' as a complete package. The Code uses a one to six star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability performance of a new home. The Code sets minimum standards for energy and water use at each level and, within England, replaces the EcoHomes scheme, developed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

The Code supports the government target that all new homes will be zero carbon from 2016 and the step changes in Building Regulations Part L leading to this. The Proposed changes to Part L and Part F (ventilation) of the building regulations , is currently being consulted on and closes on 17 September 2009.

The Code will provide valuable information to home buyers, and offers builders a tool with which to differentiate themselves in sustainability terms.

If you attended the recent Local Authority workshops on the Code the presentations are now available on the BRE website (external link).

Guidance

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published the leaflet Greener Homes for the Future, which highlights what the Code is, how it works and what it means to have a mandatory rating for new homes.

Guidance on how to comply with the Code can be found in these publications.

In November 2007 we published an Impact Assessment which was part of the  Housing and Regeneration Bill Impact Assessment paper , that analysed the costs and benefits of introducing mandatory ratings against the Code which included updated modelling data on the costs of building Code homes.  Further details of the cost modelling undertaken can be found in the report  Cost Analysis of The Code for Sustainable Homes: Final report .

Background

On 13 December 2006, the Code for Sustainable Homes - a new national standard for sustainable design and construction of new homes - was launched. Since April 2007 the developer of any new home in England can choose to be assessed against the Code.

On 16 November 2007 the Government confirmed that it would be proceeding with the implementation of mandatory ratings against the Code for all new homes following responses to the consultation on making a rating mandatory.

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