JDDK Millmount News - Winter Edition 2023 - Magazine - Page 5
Updates to housing regulations mean new framework for creativity
The UK government has recently introduced a wave of new legislation which will raise
the standard of how UK buildings perform. These regulatory changes are some of the
biggest the housing industry has witnessed in the last few decades and their impacts
will be signi昀椀cant.
Clair Sanders,
Director at JDDK
Chun Yuen,
Associate
The most major changes include the introduction of building
regulations Part F (ventilation, June 2022), Part L (conservation
of fuel and power, June 2023), Part O (overheating, June 2022)
and Part S (infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles,
April 2023). These different parts are designed to act as stepping
stones for the industry as we move towards the Future Homes
Standard expected in 2025.
These updates come on top of relatively recent changes to Part
B (昀椀re safety, December 2022), which makes up part of the
UK’s Building Safety Act, and Part M (accessibility, June 2021)
respectively. This is a signi昀椀cant core of new legislation for the
housing industry to navigate, on top of an already long list of
existing and incoming requirements.
Chun Yuen, Associate at JDDK, works across our housing projects
and sees the new regulations as an opportunity for the industry
to be bold about improving the energy ef昀椀ciency of UK homes.
Chun explains: “These updates are changing the way the industry
works. Previously buildings had a lot of wasted energy whereas
these new standards require buildings to be more airtight.
Although disruptive in the short term while the industry adapts,
in the long run these changes will lead to more energy ef昀椀cient
buildings with cheaper running costs which is better for owners,
users, and the planet. There is a bit of a maze to navigate when it
comes to deciding how the different parts 昀椀t together but thanks
to internal workshops at JDDK we have come up with strategies
which mean we can support clients to develop quality projects
that tick all the right compliance boxes.”
Clair Sanders, Director at JDDK, who leads several of JDDK’s
housing scheme projects in the public and private sector, added:
“To ensure our projects have exceptional character and quality,
we don’t just consider mandatory standards at JDDK, we refer
to relevant voluntary standard guides for each scheme such as
the Nationally Described Space Standard (NDSS), the Wheelchair
Housing Design Guide, Housing our Ageing Population Panel
for Innovation (HAPPI), and Building for a Healthy Life. Recent
building regulation updates mean the way we incorporate these
voluntary guides has changed, as the mandatory standards can
impact on areas such as the voluntary space standards. Air
source heat pumps, batteries for PV panels, or added insulation
for example take up space, which means we need to be more
creative with 昀氀oorplans.
“These changes aren’t stopping us from coming up with successful
and ambitious designs for our clients though. Understanding the
interplay between regulations is the key, and designing within
parameters often leads to more creative projects.”
At JDDK we have always been ambitious about making the built
environment more sustainable. Since publishing our Sustainability
Strategy 20:20, we have upskilled our team so they can design
to Passivhaus standards, a voluntary benchmark which goes far
beyond the performance of what’s expected in the Future Homes
Standard. You can 昀椀nd out more about Passivhaus here.
There will always be more housing regulation updates on the
horizon, but these changes contribute towards the UK improving
its housing stock for future generations. At JDDK we help clients
consider which regulations are relevant to them, support them to
achieve the right balance between them, whilst keeping the client
brief at the heart of our designs.
For developers wanting to create quality projects which comply
with these new standards, they will need strategies in place
before they start creating designs. At JDDK we support clients
to identify project priorities and iron out any con昀氀icts between
regulations, and the strategy we create from these discussions
informs our design and impacts every decision made about what
goes where on site. We continually review projects and use our
knowledge of the interplay between regulations to navigate the
maze that leads to a compliant project whilst keeping the client
brief front and centre.
Winter 2023. Millmount. 5