Recommendation 5

New homes built under the Programme may need expensive retrofitting to meet net-zero standards in the future. The Department did not set any standards around net-zero for the Programme and relies on housing providers to comply with relevant standards. This lack of foresight when setting up the 2021 programme means that housing providers may need to retrofit the homes they are currently building. The Department has not quantified this potential cost, and we are not convinced by its claim that introducing net-zero standards for the 2021 programme would necessarily have led to housing providers building fewer homes. Housing associations warn that retrofitting their existing stock will increase strain on their funding and resources, potentially limiting future delivery of housing. The Department says that the future homes standard should ensure that homes built after 2025 do not need to be retrofitted. Recommendation: The Department should clearly set out the impact of including net-zero requirements in the next iteration of the Programme.