Fuel Types and Running Costs
Future Homes Standard Gas Hob: No Ban, but No Gas Supply
By the Hill & May team
Updated 2026
The Future Homes Standard does not ban a gas hob. It is a set of building regulations about heating, hot water, insulation and ventilation, and cooking is outside its scope. What it does change is the gas pipe. A new home built to the standard is designed around a heat pump, so it has no reason to be connected to the gas network, and the government’s own costings assume it will not be. No gas supply means no mains gas hob and no gas or dual fuel range cooker, unless you bring in LPG.
If you live in an existing home, none of this applies to you. Your gas cooker, your gas supply and your right to replace one gas cooker with another are untouched.
What the Future Homes Standard is, and when it starts
The Future Homes and Buildings Standards are changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations in England. The government published its final response, the amending regulations and the new Approved Documents on 24 March 2026.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 24 March 2026 | Final standard published |
| 24 March 2027 | Standard comes into force for most new homes |
| 24 March 2028 | End of the 12-month transition: homes submitted under the old rules must have started on site by now |
| 24 September 2027 | Separate start date for higher-risk buildings (tall blocks) |
Source: the government’s Future Homes and Buildings Standards consultation response, chapter 13.
The transition matters if you are buying off-plan. A development whose plans went in before 24 March 2027 and which starts building before 24 March 2028 can carry on under the previous rules, which allow a gas boiler. So gas-connected new builds will still be completed for a while after the standard starts.
Does it ban gas hobs? What the documents actually say
No document in the package bans a gas hob or a gas connection. The 2026 consultation response does not mention cooking appliances at all. Building regulations energy rules have always dealt with “regulated” energy: heating, hot water, fixed lighting and ventilation. What you cook on is not part of the calculation.
The gas pipe is a different matter. The Future Homes Standard impact assessment, the government’s own costing of the policy, says it plainly:
- “Homes built to the FHS standard no longer require a gas connection.”
- “Given the FHS is fully electric, any occupiers in a new FHS home will no longer have to pay a standing charge for gas, due to there being no gas supply to the home.”
The standard does this by changing the benchmark. Every new home is measured against a “notional” home, and that reference home now has a heat pump instead of a gas boiler. A builder can still in theory install gas boilers if the rest of the design is good enough to meet the carbon and energy targets, but in practice that is very hard to do, which is why industry bodies describe gas boilers as effectively out of new homes.
Once there is no gas boiler, the only reason to run gas to a house is the hob. The impact assessment costs a gas connection on a development of ten or more homes at £1,174 per home. Few developers will pay that, and few buyers would thank them for it: a gas supply brings its own standing charge, which under Ofgem’s price cap for October to December 2026 averages 29.68p a day on Direct Debit, about £108 a year before you have boiled a kettle.
What it means if you are buying a new build
- Expect an electric kitchen. Most new homes completed under the standard will come with an induction or ceramic hob and an electric oven, and no gas meter.
- Ask before you exchange. If you have your heart set on gas, ask the developer in writing whether the plot has a gas supply. During the transition, some plots on the same site may be gas and others not.
- Check the electrical supply if you want a big range cooker. A large electric or induction range cooker can need its own dedicated circuit. Our induction range cooker guide covers what to ask your electrician.
- A dual fuel range cooker needs gas. Dual fuel means a gas hob over electric ovens. With no gas, that leaves an all-electric range or an LPG conversion. See our dual fuel vs electric range cooker comparison.
Can you still have a gas range cooker in a new build?
Yes, if you are prepared to use bottled or bulk LPG. Nothing in the Future Homes Standard stops a homeowner fitting an LPG hob or range cooker once they have moved in. Many gas range cookers are sold with an LPG conversion kit, or in an LPG version, and the cylinders sit outside and are piped in by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
It is a practical route rather than a cheap one. You pay for the cylinders or the tank, the engineer’s installation, and gas that costs more per unit than mains gas. Our pages on LPG cookers, Calor gas bottle prices and bulk LPG prices per litre put numbers on it.
What you cannot do is ask the network to connect a single new house in a fully electric development and expect it to be simple. A one-off domestic connection is quoted separately and can be expensive, and some estates will have no gas main in the road at all.
If you live in an existing home
The Future Homes Standard covers new homes and some specific work such as conversions. It does not:
- make you remove a gas hob or cooker;
- stop you buying a new gas or dual fuel cooker to replace an old one;
- end your gas supply or change your tariff.
Separate government policy is pushing existing homes towards heat pumps through grants, but that concerns heating, not cooking, and there is no rule requiring anyone to give up gas cooking. If you are weighing a switch anyway, our induction vs gas range cooker comparison sets out the cooking and running-cost differences.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
The Future Homes Standard is for England. Wales sets its own Part L, and Scotland already has its New Build Heat Standard, which since April 2024 has stopped gas and oil boilers being used as the main heating system in new homes. The Scottish Government’s factsheet is about heating systems and says nothing about cooking. Northern Ireland has its own building regulations. In each case, check the rules that apply where you are building.
Frequently asked questions
Will gas hobs be banned in new builds? No. The Future Homes Standard does not mention cooking or ban gas hobs. But new homes built to it from 24 March 2027 are designed without a gas supply, so a mains gas hob will not be an option in most of them.
Can I fit a gas cooker in a new build house? Only with a gas supply. If the house has no mains gas, the realistic route is LPG from cylinders or a tank, installed by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
When does the Future Homes Standard start? 24 March 2027 for most new homes in England, with a transition to 24 March 2028 for developments already submitted under the old rules. Higher-risk buildings have a separate start date of 24 September 2027.
Do I have to get rid of my gas cooker? No. The standard does not apply to existing homes, and there is no rule requiring anyone to remove or stop using a gas hob or cooker.
Does the Future Homes Standard ban gas boilers? Not by name, but each new home is measured against a reference home with a heat pump, and meeting the targets with a gas boiler is very difficult. The government’s impact assessment treats new homes under the standard as fully electric.
Why would a builder not connect gas just for the hob? The government’s impact assessment costs a gas connection at £1,174 per home on sites of ten or more, and the buyer then pays a gas standing charge of about 29.68p a day under the October to December 2026 price cap, for very little gas use.
Sources
- GOV.UK, The Future Homes and Buildings Standards: 2023 consultation, including the consultation response published 24 March 2026.
- GOV.UK, Future Homes Standard impact assessment, paragraphs 12.11 and 15.10 and the cost table.
- Ofgem, changes to the energy price cap between 1 October and 31 December 2026.
- Scottish Government, New Build Heat Standard factsheet.
