Observations on the launch of BRE’s Home Quality Mark

Following the launch of BRE’s Home Quality Mark CIS were keen to see what changes had been made following the consultation in the summer and how the scheme now compares to the Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) and BREEAM schemes. Some of our first observations are:

  •  A greater emphasis is put onto the location of the home and the surrounding services than CSH, this is also more in line with BREEAM assessments
  • The scheme will allow the design team to look at the development technically and will convert these inputs into something meaningful to the public.  
  • 5 star ratings in 3 indicator bands, Living Cost, Health and Wellbeing and Environmental Footprint, will be on the final certificate allowing a greater understanding of the home to potential buyers. 
  • Credit weighting has been removed, a first for this scheme, hopefully allowing for greater transparency when calculating the overall star rating.

Overall the launch is an exciting early Christmas present from BRE and we are eager to see how it progresses over the coming months as assessors start working with it.

22nd December 2015