I'm Alexandr — 20 years pricing and building homes across London as a quantity surveyor and contractor. Whether you design them or build them, the rules and the numbers never sit still. Each month I read the regulations, planning changes and cost data so you don't have to, and publish the five things that actually change what you draw, price and build. No filler. No pitch.
01 · Regulations
The Future Homes Standard is law. The clock starts now.
On 24 March 2026 MHCLG published the Future Homes Standard — the next revision of Part L — alongside new Approved Documents L 2026 and F 2026. It comes into force on 24 March 2027, with a twelve-month transitional period, so any plot not commenced inside that window will have to meet the new standard. For higher-risk buildings the date is 24 September 2027.
In practice it ends fossil-fuel heating in new homes: the notional dwelling is now built around a heat pump plus on-site renewables, with PV the default way to meet the new minimum renewable-generation requirement. Fabric stays close to Part L 2021, but you're now designing for heat-pump flow temperatures, plant and cylinder space, and a roof that can carry the array — and pricing the kit and install that go with it.
One detail worth correcting, because it's already being reported wrong: compliance at launch is via SAP 10.3, not the Home Energy Model. MHCLG confirmed in February 2026 that HEM isn't yet an approved methodology and is expected at least three months after publication. Part F also tightens ventilation commissioning, and a full technical review of Part O (overheating) against CIBSE TM59 is coming.
Sources: Approved Document L 2026 (gov.uk) · Elmhurst Energy explainer
02 · Planning
The Planning & Infrastructure Act is in. Decisions move to officers.
The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, with provisions phasing in through 2026. The headline for residential work is a national scheme of delegation: a two-tier framework setting which decisions sit with planning officers and which still go to committee — pushing more applications down the delegated route.
Committee members will need mandatory training before they can determine applications, committee size and composition are being standardised, and the routes for legal challenge drop from three to two. The Act also enables strategic spatial development strategies across England.
Sources: Planning & Infrastructure Act 2025 (UK Parliament) · Savills analysis
03 · Biodiversity Net Gain
Small-site BNG relief lands on 31 July.
Following the government's April 2026 consultation response, from 31 July 2026 development on a red-line site of 0.2 hectares or less is set to be exempt from mandatory BNG — unless a priority habitat is affected. On the government's own framing, that removes the mandatory 10% uplift from close to half of residential applications.
For minor development the gain hierarchy is also being relaxed, the metric shifts toward a digital tool, and a separate consultation is looking at a brownfield exemption.
Sources: Maddox Planning · BNG changes overview
04 · Building Safety
Gateway 2: budget for the wait, plan for the fix.
If you're working on higher-risk buildings, the numbers are sobering. Against a statutory 12-week review period, Gateway 2 determinations have been running closer to 31 weeks. Throughput is improving — a record 272 decisions to late November 2025 at a 73% approval rate — but programmes are still being built around a multi-month wait.
The Building Safety Regulator's published aim is to determine non-complex Gateway 2 applications within 18 weeks by March 2027, backed by around 100 new in-house staff. Useful direction — but not a date to programme against yet.
Sources: RIBA · Construction Management
05 · Cost Watch
The numbers for your next client conversation.
BCIS's latest forecast (data to 10 March 2026) puts building costs up ~14% and tender prices up ~15% over the five years to 2031. The All-in Tender Price Index rose 2.8% year-on-year in Q1 2026, up from 2.5% — gentle for now, but the curve is upward, and energy-market shocks are the live risk.
Labour is the pressure point: an agreed three-year deal sets wage rises of roughly 3.95% (2026), 4.6% (2027) and 4.85% (2028). On a scheme tendering this year for a 2027 build, that drift belongs in the client's budget conversation today.
Sources: BCIS · Construction News
31 Jul 2026 — BNG small-site (≤0.2ha) exemption begins
24 Mar 2027 — Future Homes Standard in force (12-month transition)
By Mar 2027 — BSR target: non-complex Gateway 2 within 18 weeks
24 Sep 2027 — Future Homes Standard for higher-risk buildings
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THE BUILD BRIEF — curated by My Trusted Builder, London design & build. Figures are indicative and sourced above; confirm current rates for your specific project.