We’re asked this question almost every week — five years after it was first announced, very little has progressed, and the UK is still waiting for clarity.
The Home Energy Model (HEM) was supposed to reshape how we assess the energy performance of new homes under the Future Homes Standard (FHS). But the momentum seems to have stalled. So where do things stand?
Understanding the Home Energy Model and Its Purpose
The Home Energy Model (HEM) was being developed as the new software and methodology behind building energy assessments for future homes in England. It was intended to replace or modernise SAP Calculations, which have been used for many years to calculate the energy use and emissions of UK homes.
The HEM was due to support the introduction of the Future Homes Standard, a key policy framework originally set out in 2019 to ensure that:
- New homes achieve much better thermal performance
- Low-carbon heating systems, especially heat pumps, become the norm
- The UK construction industry is ready for net zero carbon homes by 2025
What Would the Home Energy Model Actually Do?
Like SAP, the Home Energy Model would be used by accredited energy assessors. They would input key data on:
- Building dimensions and orientation
- U-values and thermal bridging
- Heating, ventilation and cooling systems (HVAC)
- Lighting, hot water systems and renewable technologies
- Construction fabric, glazing, and insulation performance
This data would be used to generate performance metrics and compare the home to a notional target building. The idea was to ensure each new home met a future-proof, nationally defined standard.
Industry Reaction: Strong Support, Serious Concerns
During the consultation process, feedback on the Home Energy Model and the Future Homes Standard was mixed. Industry groups such as LETI (the London Energy Transformation Initiative) welcomed the ambition — but raised several major concerns.
What Industry Supported
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Banning fossil fuel heating: A key step to reaching net zero and avoiding the need for costly retrofit work on newly built homes
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Electrification of heat: Backing for widespread use of heat pumps, in line with what’s already happening across Europe
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Standardisation of performance metrics: A more transparent and consistent approach to assessing energy demand
What Industry Worried About
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Fabric standards might not be tough enough: In some edge cases, they may even perform worse than today’s regulations
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Missing metrics: The absence of Energy Use Intensity (EUI) and possible removal of FEES (Fabric Energy Efficiency Standard) left assessors uncertain about whether homes would truly be net zero-ready
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Carbon metrics may not reflect real energy use: Some called for a shift away from CO₂-based reporting toward actual energy demand
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No focus on embodied carbon or post-occupancy monitoring: Key performance gaps could remain unaddressed
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Allowing local authorities to opt out: This caused alarm across the sector and could undermine consistency nationwide
Implementation Delays and Policy Uncertainty
Although consultations were completed before the last general election, no official implementation followed. As of now, the current UK government has not confirmed any timeline for adopting the Home Energy Model, or rolling out the Future Homes Standard.
To make matters worse, there are signs that some key climate commitments — such as the ban on new gas boilers — could be watered down.
This leaves energy assessors, designers, architects and developers in limbo. Yet the long-term need for cleaner, better-performing homes is clearer than ever.
Why We Still Need the Home Energy Model
Despite political delays, the fundamental problem hasn’t changed: UK homes account for a huge portion of our national carbon footprint, and without a shift to low-energy, electric-heated buildings, we won’t meet net zero by 2050.
Hydrogen Won’t Cut It
As pointed out in LETI’s white paper, hydrogen is not viable for mass home heating. It would require around six times more renewable electricity to produce and distribute hydrogen than to simply run a heat pump directly.
The Grid Needs Help from Better Homes
- This means most buildings will need electric systems, but there’s not enough grid capacity to meet even today’s peak heating demand. This capacity will increase, but we still need lower energy demand buildings to make sure there’s enough power for everyone.
- Heat pumps are crucial to this because they use much less energy than other systems (i.e. a heat pump with SCoP/efficiency of 3.5 means demand is 3.5x lower than if electric panel heaters used). There’s even more reduction where solar PV panels are used alongside.
- Naturally, the better insulation and thermal performance a home has, the less heating and cooling demand is going to be expected from the grid.
With the above, there’s more than enough planned green grid electricity for all of our future homes.
The Future of UK Homes Is Still Electric — With or Without the Home Energy Model
Regardless of the delays, one thing remains clear: almost every home in the UK will eventually need:
- A heat pump or equivalent low-carbon system
- Improved thermal envelope performance
- Smart controls, better ventilation, and renewables
The Home Energy Model was never just a software tool. It was — and still is — an opportunity to embed future-ready thinking into every new home built in the UK.
Looking Back… and Looking Ahead
Let’s not forget: under the now-defunct Code for Sustainable Homes, all new UK homes were meant to be net zero by 2016. That policy was scrapped by a change in government — and here we are in 2025 still asking what’s next.
Will we see the Home Energy Model revived and implemented soon? Will future homes finally be designed to deliver real-world performance, not just tick-box compliance?
We don’t know. But what we do know is this:
Without demand reduction, electrification, and the right assessment tools, net zero will remain out of reach.
