Housebuilding jumps in race to beat new standards

Housebuilding in England jumped in the second quarter of 2023 as builders fast-tracked projects to avoid tougher energy performance standards. The number of dwellings in England where building work had started on site rose to 67,600 between 1 April and 30 June, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said, a rise of 75% from the previous quarter and an increase of one-third compared with the same period in 2022. New building regulatory standards came into force in England on 15 June relating to energy performance and electric vehicle charging points, but the changes do not apply to building work that began before that date. The government said the “unusually high peak in starts” was because “many housebuilders may have chosen to bring forward the start of project works to avoid the costs of complying with these new standards”. The FT (£)