New properties will face limitations on the size of windows from June, which will also impact the building of conservatories, following calls from climate lobbyists to prevent overheating during the summer.
The Telegraph reports that the new regulations will limit window size deepening on the floor area of the property, and may result in fewer conservatories, patio doors, and floor-to-ceiling windows being built in the UK.
The regulations are being introduced after concerns that Britain’s homes are at risk of becoming uninhabitable if summer temperatures continue to rise due to global warming.
Rico Wojtulewicz, the head of housing and planning policy at the National Federation of Builders, said: “We can build heavily glazed buildings but smaller companies who do a number of different housing types on one development may avoid it, due to the potential cost of the dynamic thermal modelling on each home.”
He added that conservatories could ultimately become a ‘premium product’, as smaller and mid-market companies are deterred from building them, while high-end builders will be able to continue doing so.
However, a conservatory or similar extension could be exempt from the regulations, as long as they are unheated and disconnected from the main property.
The rules are a part of a restructuring of building standards for newly-built homes which are set to come into force in June, and come as the government said overheating in homes was a risk due to the UK’s changing climate.
A spokesman for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said: “It is vital we adapt as we prepare to face the reality of climate change. This includes making sure our new homes are fit for the future by reducing the risk of overheating.”
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