Environment
Why Heatwaves and Water Scarcity are the Biggest Threat to UK Housebuilding
By Steve Harding, Founder and CEO of Showerkap
The UK has spent the past year focused on one question: how do we build more homes? Yet as ministers push forward with ambitious housing targets, a more fundamental question is emerging. What is the point of approving thousands of new homes if there is not enough water?
Climate change is turning water into a planning constraint
Across England, particularly in the Southeast and East of England, water scarcity is no longer a future risk. It is a present-day constraint on growth. Planning applications are being delayed, developments are being reconsidered, and water companies are warning that rising demand, climate change and ageing infrastructure are converging into a challenge that could undermine the UK’ s housing ambitions.
This summer’ s heatwaves have exposed the reality of a changing climate. Longer dry spells, record temperatures and increasing pressure on reservoirs and rivers are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
The housing sector sits squarely at the centre of this challenge. Maidstone Borough Council’ s leader recently called for a delay in large-scale house building over concerns that new developments may not have water supplies.
New research from the Home Builders Federation claims that the building of nearly 30,000 new homes has been delayed, including 7,000 affordable homes, due to supposed concerns over inadequate wastewater infrastructure.
Hotter future demands different approach
Government analysis has already acknowledged that water availability is becoming a limiting factor for development. In water-stressed regions such as Sussex, Cambridge and parts of the Southeast, housing projects have faced delays because projected demand exceeds available supply.
Ministers have consulted on tightening water efficiency standards for new homes in recognition that the country’ s housing and water challenges can no longer be treated separately.
In a consultation launched by the Government in September 2025, small changes to building regulations that could see new homes fitted with water-saving features such as aerated taps and showerheads and dual flush toilets.
The change to the design standard will make new build housing more water efficient, equivalent to 20 litres per person per day. Analysis has shown this could save £ 111 a year on energy and water bills in new homes.
The problem is not simply one of supply. Building more reservoirs and upgrading infrastructure is essential, but these are projects measured in decades, not planning cycles. Even with new reservoirs now receiving approval, many will not be operational until the late 2030s or later. Meanwhile, the government is seeking to deliver hundreds of thousands of homes far sooner.
This creates a growing mismatch between housing delivery and resource resilience.
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