Herefordshire Future Homes

The Herefordshire Future Homes Report sets out the environmental building design standards for future housing developments on council-owned land and council retrofit schemes.

With a shortage of housing to meet the needs of local communities, we are progressing plans to build homes in the county that are affordable and designed to net zero-carbon standards.

Herefordshire Future Homes

Homes account for over 26% of carbon emissions. Herefordshire is among the first counties nationally to set such high environmental standards which reflects our commitment to tackling climate change.

The homes will be designed to:

  • Minimise energy use
  • Reduce greenhouse-gas emissions
  • Be set in neighbourhoods with open spaces to enjoy
  • Have access to sustainable transport options

In particular the standards set out the requirements for Herefordshire Future Homes to have:

  • Excellent thermal insulation, so heating costs are greatly reduced
  • Carefully designed triple-glazed windows, to benefit from useful winter sunshine (solar heat gains), while avoiding summer overheating
  • No gas boilers (which use polluting fossil fuels), but electric heat pumps for heating and hot water, which are highly efficient
  • Solar panels, generating green electricity
  • Heat recovery ventilation (MVHR), to avoid cold window draughts, save energy and filter the incoming air which will help people with asthma, hay fever etc.