The poll asked:

• What do you see as the biggest challenge in delivering homes compliant with the new FHS?

• Technical/compliance uncertainty 25%

• Planning and local authority requirements/timelines 21%

• Additional building costs 21%

• Grid capacity/utility connection problems 14%

• Customer affordability/sales value 10%

• Supply chain/installer capacity 8%

With the first aspects of the FHS coming into force on 24 March 2027, there is clearly a long way still to go for the industry to be ready. Timelines and requirements for planning and local authorities are seen as a challenge by one in five (21%) of those polled. With this and the uncertainty surrounding technical and compliance requirements, Power On is encouraging the industry to act sooner rather than later to prepare for the FHS.

Neil Fitzsimons, managing director for Power On, says: “It is easy to be lulled into the false sense of security that the FHS is still a year away. In fact, the industry needs to be acting now to embrace the transition to nEt Zero. Solutions like networked heat are already being delivered in the UK and we encourage builders and developers to look at these now so that they are already on the road to delivering FHS compliant homes.”

The FHS is a major update to England's Building Regulations designed to ensure new homes produce 75–80% less carbon than those built under 2013 standards. It covers low-carbon heating, fabric performance, ventilation, and renewables, and forms part of the UK's commitment to reaching net zero by 2050.

Whilst the FHS does not specifically state what can and cannot be used to heat homes, it shifts solutions away from individual, carbon-intensive systems towards networked, low-carbon heat solutions. To meet the targets, oil, gas, biomass, CHP and (arguably) direct electric heaters are almost certainly impossible. The solutions likely to be implemented and already being delivered include low carbon heat networks, centralised heat pumps, ambient loop systems, individual air source heat pumps (planning permission depending) and systems designed for future network connection.