Two changes this week matter if you are planning work on a Kent home: a new one-volume guide to building regulations that spells out what is coming to Part L and Part B, and confirmation that the bigger heat pump grant for oil and LPG homes is now live. Materials data published earlier in the month also suggests the supply squeeze that pushed quotes up in recent years has gone the other way.
Here is the detail, with sources, for the week to 14 August 2026.
New guide sets out what changes in the building regulations
BSRIA published BG 92/2026 on 14 August, pulling 24 Approved Documents into a single compliance guide covering Parts A to T and the differences between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Three things in it affect homeowners directly. Part L now rules out gas boilers in new homes, with heat pumps and heat networks as the standard and solar PV expected on most new dwellings. Part B brings new evacuation alert guidance for blocks over 18 metres and a second escape stair requirement from September 2026. Part F, on ventilation, is being revised for 2027, which is the one to watch if you are planning a bathroom or kitchen refit that changes the extract layout. None of this applies retrospectively to your existing house, but it is the direction that products, prices and installer training are moving in. Read what the guide covers.
£9,000 heat pump grant now open to oil and LPG homes
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for households off the mains gas grid rose from £7,500 to £9,000 on 21 July 2026, and runs at that level until 31 March 2027. It applies to air source and ground source heat pumps in eligible properties in England and Wales heated by oil or LPG, and the government put the number of eligible homes at around 200,000.
That is a bigger deal in Kent than the national figure suggests, because a lot of the county sits outside the gas network: the villages of the Weald, the Downs and the marshes are full of oil-fired homes. The grant comes off your quote up front rather than being claimed back, so you need a quote from an MCS-certified installer, who then applies on your behalf. Installation must be completed within three months of approval, or six for ground source. Check the eligibility rules on GOV.UK.
Great British Energy backs a British solar-thermal maker
On 10 August, Great British Energy and Barclays Climate Ventures put a combined £8.875m into Naked Energy, with £7.5m of that from Great British Energy’s Energy Engineered in the UK programme. The company’s Virtu system generates heat, and in one version heat and electricity together, from rooftop collectors, with a low-profile design it says uses 85% of a roof for generation. The money funds a new UK manufacturing plant, location still to be decided, and up to 40 direct jobs.
Its installations so far are large buildings rather than houses, the British Library and Wimbledon among them, so this is not a product to specify on a semi in Sevenoaks yet. It is worth noting as a sign that rooftop heat, not just rooftop electricity, is attracting government money. Read the investment details.
Concrete and mortar sales fell sharply in the first half
The Mineral Products Association reported on 3 August that first-half 2026 sales of ready-mixed concrete fell 9.3% against the same period in 2025, with mortar down 5.1% and sand and gravel down 8.3%. Asphalt was the exception, up 3.2% on road and infrastructure work. MPA chief executive Paul Adeleke said plants are being mothballed and drivers taken off the road.
Bleak for the industry, but it does tell you something useful as a customer: the shortages and allocation lists that pushed groundworks and extension quotes up a few years ago are not the constraint now. If you are getting an extension, a new drive or foundations priced this autumn, get three quotes and ask specifically what the materials element covers, because there is more competition for the work than there was. See the MPA figures.
