The Future Homes Hub is pleased to announce the establishment of a new cross‑sector Water Smart Growth Board (WSGB) to support the delivery of sustainable housing growth through better, more integrated water management across England.
The Board builds on the foundations laid by Ofwat’s Enabling Water Smart Communities (EWSC) project and responds to the growing national need for collaborative solutions to tackle water scarcity, infrastructure capacity challenges and climate‑related pressures.
The WSGB will bring together senior leaders from government, the housing sector, water industry, regulators, environmental bodies, academia and practitioners to provide strategic oversight and coordination to ensure that new homes are ‘water smart’: resilient, water‑efficient and supported by the right infrastructure and water management solutions that work for housing delivery, people and nature.
Speaking at the EWSC closing event this week, EWSC chair Jean Spencer said: “Delivering the homes the country needs requires us to think differently about water: how we plan for it, how we use it, and how we build resilience into our communities.
“The Water Smart Growth Board brings together the right partners to tackle these challenges collectively. By aligning the housing and water sectors, we can ensure that new development is not only sustainable but also futureproofed for the pressures of climate change and population growth.”
The Water Smart Growth Board will be linked to the Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce with a view to:
- the creation, maintenance and oversight of a national roadmap for integrated water management in new housing developments.
- supporting policy development and implementation across water and housing that both contributes towards, and removes barriers to, sustainable housing delivery.
- strengthening knowledge and skills among all stakeholders involved in building new homes
- establishing a Community of Practice to share good practice and feedback on policy and implementation challenges and opportunities.
Thakeham CEO and co‑chair of the Water Smart Growth Board, Rob Boughton, said: “Developers, government, and the water sector have a shared responsibility to deliver sustainable communities. The WSGB creates a forum for collaboration and practical delivery. By working together in areas like water efficiency, reuse and SuDS, we can unlock housing growth whilst protecting and improving our water resources.”
Four specialist Implementation Groups will begin work immediately:
- Delivering Infrastructure for Housing Growth - identifying the barriers and solutions to planning for and securing water and waste-water connection, to enable sustainable growth and addressing approaches and solutions in water-constrained areas
- Water Efficiency - securing successful implementation of changes to Part G of the building regulations to improve water efficiency
- Water Reuse - developing recommendations on the practical approach, steps and timeline for incorporating potable and non-potable water reuse within new developments
- Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) - securing successful implementation of the new SuDS standards, including the SuDS hierarchy and informing long-term maintenance