Ministers urged to scrap draft policy claimed to curtail ability of councils to require net zero standards for new homes

In an open letter to the Secretary of State for Housing, Steve Reed, and the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, the group said: “The proposed Policy PM13, which seeks to limit standards set in local plans, is an unnecessary blocker to the innovations already being delivered to decarbonise the construction industry.

“To support the acceleration to net zero, building regulations must be seen as a floor to increase standards across all new buildings, and not a ceiling. The planning system is ideally placed to support more ambitious innovation, with the checks and balances of development plan examinations ensuring that local policy requirements are evidenced, deliverable and viable.

“Contrary to the assertion made in the consultation document, there is no significant variation in local standards. Instead, local planning authorities are using one industry supported approach based on energy-based metrics to drive down energy use in the operation of buildings. We are also not aware of any evidence that local standards prevent the deployment of energy efficiency technologies at scale. In fact, local standards are helping the gradual penetration of energy efficiency technologies in the housing market.”

The letter, which was coordinated by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), added: “As a recent High Court case [R (Rights: Community: Action Ltd) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2025]] has demonstrated, even if the Planning and Energy Act 2008 were amended to restrict local authorities from setting energy efficiency standards for new homes, this would not remove or override the climate obligations placed upon them by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. The risk is therefore that current proposals will create a contradictory legal framework and slow down the plan making process.”

The group said that currently, local authorities in some areas including Cornwall, Bath and North East Somerset and Central Lincolnshire require all new homes to be ‘zero carbon’ in operation, meaning the energy used to run a home once it is built does not use any fossil fuels.

The letter said: “Whilst we recognise that the upcoming Future Homes Standard will be a step forward in the carbon performance of new homes, a better standard that achieves 'Net Zero in operation' is possible and can be delivered in the UK (subject to viability).”

The group added: “We strongly urge you to reconsider the policy approach proposed in the draft NPPF to make it clear that until building regulations universally achieve net zero buildings, local planning authorities may adopt standards in local plans which support national climate change targets, including those that go beyond current and future building regulations, so long as such policy is robustly evidenced and viable.

“We are also concerned that no Environmental Assessment of the impact of this policy change has been made available and encourage you to publish this urgently so that it can be reviewed within the NPPF consultation window.”

PM13 in the draft NPPF put out to consultation in December 2025 reads as follows: 

PM13: Setting standards

1. Quantitative standards set through development plan policies should be limited to infrastructure provision, affordable housing requirements, parking and design and placemaking, and where this will provide clarity and a high degree of certainty about the requirements that relevant development proposals are expected to meet. Such standards should:

a. Be justified, drawing upon relevant evidence of local characteristics and needs, while utilising or adapting relevant national standards where it is appropriate to do so (such as in relation to green infrastructure). Evidence in support of standards should be proportionate, in accordance with policy PM8, especially where relevant national standards already exist;

b. Not cover matters which are already addressed by Building Regulations, other than in relation to:

i. accessibility standards, for which local standards in relation to requirement M4(2) (accessible and adaptable dwellings) and/or M4(3) (wheelchair user dwellings) of the Building Regulations should be set in line with policy HO5; or

ii. water efficiency, for which it may be appropriate to apply the tighter Building Regulations optional requirement where justified, or exceptionally a more stringent local standard in areas of serious water stress.

c. Not cover matters relating to the construction or internal layout of buildings unless they are to implement the nationally described space standard.

The 40 local authorities to have signed the letter include Birmingham City Council, Calderdale Council, Central Bedfordshire Council, City of York Council, Essex County Council, the London Borough of Hounslow, Nottingham City Council, Southampton City Council, Wiltshire Council and a number of district councils.

Hugh Ellis, Director of Policy at the Town and Country Planning Association said: “Building regulations must be seen as a floor to increase standards across all new buildings, not a ceiling. The planning system is ideally placed to support more ambitious innovation on climate, and it is disappointing to see a downgrading of standards when the stakes couldn’t be higher.”

Cllr Lee Scott, Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning and Regeneration at Essex County Council, said: “Here in Essex, we have developed a clear policy landscape to deliver new homes that are healthier to live in, cheaper to run, more resilient to a changing climate, and that generate as much renewable energy as they use, reducing pressure on the grid. 

“Eight of our district councils have aligned their local plans to these standards, including the Uttlesford local plan which the planning inspectors recently found to be sound, legally compliant and capable of adoption. This will lead to the delivery of over 145,000 healthy, energy efficient, ‘net zero’ new homes by 2050.   

“Essex has shown that building to this high standard is technically, legally and financially viable. The freedom of local authorities to set energy performance standards that go beyond building regulations should not be limited, but rather encouraged, to enable them to build homes that are fit for the future and that deliver a raft of benefits to residents today.”