Tamsin Lishman, CEO of Kensa, has commented on the Future Homes Standard, which the government has confirmed will be published in autumn 2025.
We welcome the announcement of the Future Homes Standard. This is the policy the UK’s heat pump sector has been waiting for and is a significant moment for the future of home heating. It marks the beginning of the end for our dependence on volatile international gas markets and sends a clear signal that affordable, home-grown, clean heating is ready to take over.
It will create the foundation for a thriving homegrown clean heat sector, tripling the size of the current heat pump market with over 200,000 additional installations each year. This unlocks the economies of scale needed to drive down costs and reduce bills, all while supporting the goal of long-term energy independence and resilience.
The Future Homes Standard, when published, will provide the confidence for British heat pumps manufacturers, like Kensa, to invest to expand manufacturing capacity and grow supply chains, creating thousands of creating thousands of skilled green jobs here in the UK.
But let’s be clear, the clock is ticking, and today’s announcement still the lacks clarity and certainty to immediately unlock those major investments. We urgently need the final standards and have them legislated for. Equally, each additional month of delay results in an extra 11,000 homes fitted with fossil fuel heating, creating an estimated £110m in avoidable retrofit costs.
This legislation also changes how we think about clean heating. It creates more opportunities for ground source heat pumps and heat networks to play a critical role in home heating, with tens of thousands of new homes a year due to be fitted with the technologies.
Working with UK utility provider GTC, we’re helping housebuilders navigate the new legislation and deliver for their customers, delivering the high performance of ground source at no greater cost than gas and without costly grid upgrades. Our British-designed and manufactured system future-proofs homes, supports energy security ambitions, delivering reliable, low-cost heating that meets both developers’ and households’ immediate and future needs.