PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(25 November 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of housing regulations on the (a) number of windows, (b) size of windows, (c) natural light and (d) residents' wellbeing in new homes.

Asked by:
Dan Tomlinson (Labour)

Building regulations do not place specific restrictions on the number, type or size of windows. Windows can contribute to the health and wellbeing of occupants by providing daylight, ventilation and regulating temperatures. Part O of the Building Regulations, which was introduced in 2021, requires that new buildings are built to mitigate the risk of overheating.

New residential buildings, including houses, flats, residential care homes, student accommodation, and children’s homes must now be designed to minimise unwanted heat from the sun and to allow windows to be opened to provide appropriate ventilation and to remove excess heat when it is cooler outside than inside.

This is an important part of our work to adapt our country to face climate change, and it will protect the most vulnerable, the elderly and the very young where they live and sleep. Our expectation is that there will continue to be adequate daylight for occupiers of buildings.

Answered by:
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1 January 1970