News & regulatory updates

The draft London Plan, published 16 July 2026 and consulting until 15 October, replaces the current energy hierarchy with four policies (GHR1–GHR4) built around absolute space-heating-demand and energy-use-intensity targets, ends carbon offset payments, and keeps five years of post-occupancy energy reporting.

MHCLG's April to June 2026 statistics show 37,700 householder decisions in England, 51% of all planning decisions and 91% granted. Planning consent says nothing about Part L, where an extension's windows and doors are capped at 25% of its floor area plus the openings it covers over.

Natural England published the first draft Environmental Delivery Plan on 17 September 2026, covering nutrient pollution in the River Wensum, Bure Broads and Marshes and Yare Broads and Marshes catchments. It proposes a flat nature restoration levy of £2,675 per house or flat, indexed to the RICS CIL Index and excluding VAT, in place of a calculated nutrient budget. The draft models capacity for up to 15,780 homes and excludes any site falling wholly or partly within a 50-metre buffer of the protected sites. Participation is voluntary, the plan is not yet in force, and the consultation closes at 9.29am on 27 October 2026. The Nature Restoration Levy Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/1020) came into force on 11 September.

SI 2026/854 creates the national scheme of delegation in England from 31 October 2026. Schedule 1 applications — including applications made under a planning condition, biodiversity gain plans, prior approvals, permission in principle, and residential schemes of one to nine dwellings on under half a hectare — must be determined by an officer. Schedule 2 applications default to officers unless a nominated member and a nominated officer both agree to refer them to committee. Planning committees are capped at 13 members.

MHCLG reissued Approved Document B volumes 1 and 2 on 16 September 2026 as the 2019 edition incorporating the 2020, 2022, 2025 and 2026 amendments, collated with the 2029 amendments. The government's own update note describes the change as introducing guidance on second stairs and evacuation lifts in taller residential buildings. The 2026 amendments come into force on 30 September 2026 under Circular 04/2024, with an 18-month transitional window for schemes whose building notice, initial notice or full plans application was made before that date.

At the National Drought Group meeting on 16 September 2026, the Environment Agency presented new modelling showing England needs 120% of typical rainfall over the next seven months for all areas to be considered out of drought. Almost three-quarters of England remains in drought. Under the most likely scenario, Devon & Cornwall and East Anglia are still in drought at the start of April 2027; under a dry scenario with a one-in-four likelihood, seven areas are. Government also confirmed it will 'respond soon' to the consultation on improving water efficiency in new homes — the Part G reform.

The Environment Agency's August 2026 area monthly reports, published 14 September, record soil moisture deficits above the long-term average almost everywhere in England — close to double the LTA across the Thames area — and confirm there was no effective rainfall and therefore no groundwater recharge across Solent and South Downs during the month. SMD is the variable that makes a dry-season soakage test read high, it is published free every month by hydrological area, and quoting it is the simplest way to show a lead local flood authority that you knew what conditions your test was taken in.

The Environment Agency's report for 4 to 10 September 2026, published 11 September, records a second consecutive wetter week — 14mm to 46mm — with groundwater still falling at almost all sites. Tilshead in the Upper Hampshire Avon Chalk and Jackaments Bottom in the Cotswolds are now exceptionally low for the time of year. Reservoir storage fell again to 56.9%, 19.7% below average, with 12 reservoirs or groups under half full and 8 exceptionally low. Ten areas remain in drought and temporary use bans still cover 30 million people.

The ECaaS changelog confirms MHCLG will move its Home Energy Model API from 1.0.0a7 to 1.0.0a9 in late September 2026. Breaking input changes include the removal of a single-number ThermalBridging value, a new duct_perimeter_mm field for rectangular MVHR ductwork, a u_value_whole_wall field for party walls, smart_air_bricks and vents_open_during_airtightness_test for suspended floors, and a reworked window_part_list. ECaaS is set to become the only valid route to prove Part L compliance under the Future Homes Standard.

On 7 September 2026 MHCLG announced a review of Local Government Reorganisation following updated legal advice. Decisions on Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk are withdrawn; 14 other areas plus Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and West Sussex are paused. Surrey proceeds to two unitaries in April 2027 and May 2027 elections will use existing boundaries. For developers, it means the building control and planning teams checking 2027 submissions are now in limbo for longer.

U-Monkey's free U-value calculator now gives decrement factor, time lag and areal heat capacity (the SAP 10 thermal mass input) to BS EN ISO 13786 for every wall and roof, with sourced density and specific heat for 300+ materials.

MHCLG Circular 04/2026 (8 September 2026) revises the 2026 editions of Approved Documents L1, L2 and F1 to correct minor errors: biogas, biomass and recovered heat in the sleeving table, a new sentence on pro-rating heat-network losses, the concrete-frame party wall in the HEM table switched to 'heat loss', a corrected 1.48m (–25%) standard window height, 6mm standard glazing in the limiting U-value note, a sentence removed from paragraph 5.68, updated TM39 and BG 49 references in Volume 2, and flexible ductwork allowed for the final fan connection in all Part F system types. The coming-into-force dates are unchanged.

MHCLG's FAQ on requirement L3 (8 September 2026) sets out the L3 arithmetic — a fixed benchmark array of 0.22 kWp/m² over 40% of the ground floor area, facing south-east to south-west at 45° and unshaded, converted to an annual kWh target through SAP 10.3 Appendix M1 — and confirms that north-facing and overshaded slopes cannot be excluded from the 'reasonably practicable roof area', that a detached garage's floor and roof are left out of the calculation but may still carry panels, how curtilage is judged, what 'available to residents' means in a block of flats, and that a system installed for L3 must also be 'appropriately sized for the site and available infrastructure' under requirement L2.

BSR's June–August 2026 data (published 4 September) shows 1,654 Gateway 2 applications in progress, up over 100 in August as the 1 October Building Safety Levy approaches, new-build approvals at 92% and 22 weeks, the first inspection findings of work departing from approved designs — and still no new build at Gateway 3.

The Environment Agency's report for 28 August to 3 September 2026 records 26–48mm of rain, river flows up at almost every site and abstraction restrictions down by half — but groundwater still receding everywhere, reservoirs at 58% and 19.2% below average, 11 reservoirs under half full and no change to the ten areas in drought. A wet week is not a wet season.

BRE Global's domestic and non-domestic Approved Certifier of Design (Section 6 – Energy) schemes close on 29 September 2026, leaving RIAS as the only appointed Section 6 scheme in Scotland. Staged certificates, Schedule 1 items, warrant fee discounts and record retention all need attention before then.

New gov.uk guidance (1 September) sets out the levy process — quote, request, commitment certificate, pre-commencement condition, liability, payment and enforcement — and Parliament approved the Nature Restoration Levy Regulations on 2 and 3 September. The first nutrient EDP consultation is promised 'in the very near future'.

The SAP 10.3 fuel factors from the specification, the Notice of Approval's transitional rule, and what the arithmetic does to carbon and primary energy results.

HBF and Quantum Development Finance research finds 91% of SME house builders believe the Building Safety Levy will render sites unviable and 36% have already changed schemes. HBF is asking government to pause the 1 October start. Set against HBF's own cost breakdown, the levy is one of the smaller lines — the Future Homes Standard is the largest regulatory one.

The Home Builders Federation's Planning on Empty report, published August 2026, finds 90% of local planning authorities operating below full staffing capacity, an average department running at 80% strength, and a national shortfall of 2,660 planners — with only around 20% of major applications determined inside the statutory 13 weeks and Section 106 agreements averaging 515 days.

The 2026 Approved Document B amendment booklet, issued with MHCLG Circular 04/2024, comes into force on 30 September 2026 and requires second staircases in residential buildings 18m and above. The previous guidance still applies where a building notice, initial notice or full plans application was made before that date and the work is sufficiently progressed within 18 months — with 'sufficiently progressed' meaning foundation concrete poured or permanent piling started.

The Environment Agency's report for 21–27 August 2026 records England's reservoir storage down to 59.8% and 18.2% below average, nine reservoirs exceptionally low, groundwater still receding at every site, a new Bristol Water hosepipe ban and United Utilities' Strategic Resource Zone entering drought level 1 — a reminder that water efficiency evidence is no longer just a South East problem.

Plug-in solar kits of up to 800W are now legal across Great Britain and will be stocked by Currys, Argos, Amazon, Wickes, B&Q and Screwfix, with government estimating savings of up to £110 a year — but the planning limits, permission checks and assessment treatment all need care.

A gov.scot update published on 27 August 2026 confirms the Energy Performance of Buildings (Scotland) Regulations 2025 will now come fully into force on 30 April 2028 rather than 31 October 2026, with a one-year transition to 30 April 2029, while lodgement fees still rise as planned on 31 October 2026.

New NPPF policies HO4 and HO13 create a dedicated framework for large housing-led strategic sites, requiring consenting frameworks to set phased parameters and stay flexible as phases come forward — with real consequences for Future Homes Standard transitional protection.

New NPPF policy CC3(1)(e) requires development proposals to incorporate proportionate wildfire mitigation where wildfires pose a particular risk, with plan-making policy CC1 adding wildfire to the list of climate trends local plans must anticipate.

MHCLG's consultation on four draft national s106 templates for sites of 10 to 49 homes runs until 20 October 2026. The templates are deliberately content-neutral, which means nutrient, drainage and biodiversity contributions still have to be written into Schedule 2 site by site.

Environment Agency data for 14–20 August 2026 shows groundwater in continued seasonal recession and a quarter of river sites exceptionally low. BRE Digest 365 tests carried out in these conditions can overstate infiltration rates, and with drainage evidence now on national validation lists under NPPF policy DM2, an optimistic test is an expensive thing to discover on site.

The Environment Agency's report for 14–20 August 2026 confirms 71% of England in drought, reservoir storage at 62.6% and 16.3% below average, 1,562 abstraction licence restrictions and around 29 million people under temporary use bans — the operational backdrop to Part G, local water efficiency standards and water neutrality evidence this autumn.

MHCLG's consultation on planning powers for mayors in England, open 24 August to 5 October 2026, proposes call-in of applications over 150 homes, 15,000 m² of commercial floorspace or 30 metres in height, plus Mayoral Development Orders that grant permission upfront and a Mayoral CIL outside London.

A DESNZ consultation open until 4 September 2026 proposes a new permitted development right for temporary ground investigations and surveys by licensed electricity distribution and transmission operators — an attempt to shorten the front end of network reinforcement, which is now one of the biggest constraints on all-electric new housing.

Met Office figures published 11 August 2026 show a UK summer mean of 16.48°C to 10 August, 1.88°C above average and ahead of the 2025 record. Approved Document O remains the 2021 edition, its review has no published date, and overheating is now also a planning-stage test under NPPF policy CC3.

NPPF policy DM2, published 17 August 2026, standardises local validation lists around a national set of information requirements set out in Annex C — including a site-specific flood risk assessment and a SuDS statement — while restricting the extra documents councils can demand.

MHCLG's statutory consultee response, published 17 August 2026, confirms the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 has removed Natural England's statutory duty to advise LPAs on TCPA development — with a prioritisation framework still to be published, and NPPF policy DM3 telling authorities not to wait past statutory deadlines.

MHCLG's 2025 Housing Delivery Test results show 147 of 301 authorities below 95% and 93 below 75% — and under the August 2026 NPPF a sub-75% score counts as evidenced unmet housing need, strengthening the case for suitable housing sites in those districts.

The Environment Agency, working with CIRIA, ASA and Arup, has published national SuDS Strategy Templates for major and non-major development, plus a free e-learning course for planners — standardising how drainage strategies are submitted and checked against Defra's National Standards.

DESNZ's EPC accuracy research finds gas-heated homes use 16% less energy than modelled and electric homes 31% less — with solar gains underpredicted by 54%, ventilation defaults too high, and new builds the one place the gap runs the other way.

Stour Environmental Credits has started selling nutrient credits for the Stodmarsh catchment, with an initial programme expected to support 1,500+ homes in east Kent — a working local route while the Nature Restoration Fund's first EDPs are still being prepared.

New NPPF policy CC3, published 17 August 2026, moves overheating out of general framing text and into a coded national decision-making policy applying to development proposals — a planning-stage duty that runs ahead of the pending Part O review.

NPPF policies CC2(2) and CC3(2), published 17 August 2026, require substantial weight to be given to the benefits of improving the energy efficiency and the climate resilience of existing buildings where this is achieved through proposals for development.

New NPPF policies W1–W4 require development plans to be informed by early engagement with utility providers and network operators on energy, water, drainage and wastewater capacity, and give substantial weight to proposals that deliver that infrastructure.

The August 2026 NPPF requires SuDS on all development with drainage implications to be designed in accordance with Defra's National Standards for SuDS, with major schemes taking account of Lead Local Flood Authority advice — elevating what was non-statutory guidance into named national planning policy.

AD F 2026 limits flexible ductwork to 200 mm, caps design static pressure by flow rate, and requires a competent person to give Building Control design calculations and drawings for any ventilation system with more than 2 m of duct.

AD F 2026 defines a highly airtight dwelling as one with a design air permeability below 5 m³/(h·m²) or an as-built result below 3 — and for those homes, background ventilators plus intermittent extract is no longer a compliant strategy.

The August 2026 NPPF drops the draft ban on local energy efficiency standards, but policy PM13 requires any such standard to be a costed percentage uplift on the Target Emissions Rate calculated using a specified version of SAP.

The August 2026 NPPF confirms local plans may apply the tighter Part G optional requirement where justified, and exceptionally a more stringent local standard in areas of serious water stress, keeping the local patchwork in place ahead of Defra's Part G response.

FHS transitional protection needs both an application before 24 March 2027 and commencement before 24 March 2028 — and regulation 46A defines commencement as the completed sub-structure including ground floor level, building by building.

MHCLG's Q2 2026 EPC statistics show 51,000 new-dwelling lodgements in England (up 2%) versus a 12% fall for existing dwellings, with 89% of new dwellings rated A or B and a new de-duplication method revising historic figures slightly downwards.

RdSAP Conventions v12.2 apply from 6 August 2026: 16 amended conventions, four new ones and the deletion of Appendix 4 — mostly consistency-driven clarifications that change how DEAs classify properties and record evidence.

The GPDO Amendment Order 2026 rewrites permitted development rights for domestic solar in England from 27 August 2026, splitting the rules for houses and flats, adding protrusion and height limits, and formally defining plug-in solar.

Scotland's Stage 2 consultation on its 'Passivhaus equivalent' standard proposes fabric and carbon uplifts, new metrics and a HEM-based method — with implementation slipping from 31 March 2028 to autumn 2029. It closes 16 October 2026.

DESNZ's new SMETER Strategic Guide backs measuring a home's real Heat Transfer Coefficient from smart-meter data — real-world evidence to sit alongside modelled assessments, with a route towards future EPCs.

New BNG exemptions took effect on 6 August 2026 — most notably a 0.2-hectare exemption that lifts mandatory BNG from the smallest developments — but they apply only to planning applications made from that date.

Reformed domestic EPCs will carry four headline metrics — energy cost, fabric performance, heating system and smart readiness — produced via HEM. Launch is now the second half of 2027, with a shared implementation plan due in summer 2026.

England's Building Safety Levy starts 1 October 2026: a per-square-metre charge on major residential developments, collected via Building Control, with the completion certificate withheld until it's paid.

CIBSE TM59:2026 introduces a passive-first three-stage method, four assessment criteria and a rewritten bedroom night-time test. Approved Document O still references the 2017 edition — so mind the gap.

A mandatory A–F water efficiency label for water-using products is due by end of 2026. What it covers, where it stands, and how it lines up with the Part G reform.

Water UK has backed Defra's proposed cut from 125 to 105 l/p/d. The government response is still awaited, with implementation intended during 2026 and a six-month transition.

ADL 2026 ends the standard-size window U-value. From March 2027, values must reflect each product's real dimensions — nudging figures upward and closing the design-vs-reality gap.

The first Nature Restoration Fund regulations are laid, paving the way for a pay-a-levy alternative to site-by-site nutrient neutrality. What it changes — and what hasn't changed yet.

What Approved Document L 2026 actually changes — the dates, the new rules, and why thermal bridging matters more than ever.

The Home Energy Model launch is delayed; SAP 10.3 remains the only FHS compliance route. Why that's good news, and what to prep now.