All new homes in England must be certified under the Code for Sustainable Homes which demonstrates the environmental performance of a home through an independently certified assessment.


Launched in April 2007, The Code for Sustainable Homes replaced EcoHomes for the assessment of new homes in England. In addition, since April 2008 Northern Ireland has required CSH assessments to be carried out on all new public sector housing and the National Assembly for Wales has also committed to adopt the CSH for new housing in Wales in the near future.


Owned by and operated under license to the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), the Code for Sustainable Homes is required as follows:


  • In England, from April 2008 it is mandatory for all new homes to obtain a rating under the Code. In addition, any homes built with a funding contribution from either the Housing Corporation or English Partnerships must achieve a Code Level 3 rating and homes built in any “eco-towns” planned by CLG must achieve Code Level 5 or 6
  • In Northern Ireland, from April 2008 a rating of Code Level 3 must be achieved on any public sector housing

Using our experience of EcoHomes assessments as the foundation, we can help our clients understand the new more stringent Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) criteria and help them to achieve the necessary rating




EcoHomes (or BREEAM for Homes) was developed by BRE in partnership with the Housing Corporation and launched in 2003 for the assessment of new and refurbished housing developments in the UK. Following the launch of The Code for Sustainable Homes EcoHomes is now only used for the assessment of refurbished housing in England, new / refurbished housing in Scotland and some type of housing developments in Wales and Northern Ireland (see text on The Code for Sustainable Homes).