Guidance Launch Event - 'Water Efficiency and Reuse in Housing’

Join us for the launch event of our new best practice guide to ‘Water Efficiency and Reuse in Housing’, funded by the Enabling Water Smart Communities (EWSC) project and the UK Water Efficiency Collaborative Fund.

About the guidance

The challenge of water availability is well documented and the UK faces a potential major water deficit. Many areas are water stressed and some local authorities now require developers to demonstrate and robustly evidence a move towards ‘water neutrality’.

The Future Homes Hub’s 'Water Ready' report (April 2024) for DEFRA proposes a roadmap towards water efficient housing, setting out proposed actions for government and industry to take to achieve water usage of 90 litres per person per day (LPPPD) in new homes by 2035. However, there are a number of progressive organisations within industry who want to move faster, and water companies are likely to encourage this through their Environmental Incentives programmes. There is currently however a knowledge gap in regard to concise and current guidance available as to how to deliver this.

This project aims to provide forward-thinking housing developers, architects, contractors and their supply chains with the practical guidance and model specifications required to enable them to deliver new housing developments and retrofit homes which meet best practice water efficiency targets and reuse outcomes, now, and in advance of proposed roadmap timescales.

Project team and steering group

The guidance is being developed by:

• Tom Dollard (Co-author), Sustainability and Innovation lead and a partner at award-winning architects Pollard Thomas Edwards. Tom is author of the best-selling book for RIBA, ‘Designed to Perform: An illustrated guide to delivering energy efficient homes’ and co-authored the Good Homes Alliance’s recent shading guidance.
• Cath Hassell (Co-author), Director of ech2o and an expert in sustainable water strategies and low-carbon technologies. Cath regularly delivers training workshops to a wide range of audiences, from school pupils to construction professionals. Author of Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater Recycling Manual - A training manual for plumbers by BPEC.
• Rory Olcayto (Editor)​​​​, Writer and Critic at Pollard Thomas Edwards. Previous roles include editor of The Architects’ Journal and chief executive of Open City.
• Saffron Corcoran (Case study author), Environmental Engineer Graduate at Thames Water.
• Richard Broad (Project manager), Projects & Comms Manager at Good Homes Alliance and a Director of the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (ASBP).

Steering group members include representatives from Anglian Water, Aquality, Cambridge City Council, Defra, ECD Architects, Future Homes Hub, Horsham District Council, Introba, Islington Council, Raven Housing Trust, SNG, Thakeham Homes, Thames Water, TOWN, University of Bath, University of Manchester, Watergate, WaterUK and Waterwise.

Outline agenda

• 17:00 Registration and welcome drink
• 17:30 Welcome from GHA and guide supporters
• 17:40 Presentation of the guide
• 18:00 Q&A
• 18:15 Drinks and networking
• 19:30 Close

Key details

• Date: Thursday 10th July 2025
• Time: 17:30-19:30 (Registration from 17:00)
• Location: Pollard Thomas Edwards, Diespeker Wharf, 38 Graham Street, London, N1 8JX
• Cost: Free to attend, registration essential

Find out more at https://goodhomes.org.uk/events/water-guide-launch.