Steve Harding, founder and CEO of clean tech Showerkap explores if the UK’s plans for thousands of new homes could be in danger of drying up.
The UK has spent the past year focused on one question: how do we build more homes? Yet as ministers push forward with ambitious housing targets, a more fundamental question is emerging. What is the point of approving thousands of new homes if there is not enough water?
Fittingly, as we enter another heatwave in the UK, July 30 marks Earth Overshoot Day 2026, the date when our country’s consumption of ecological resources exceeds what our planet can regenerate in a year.
While sobering, the reminder also presents an opportunity to pause and to embrace innovation, fresh thinking and radical change.
Climate change is turning water into a planning constraint
Across England, particularly in the South East and East of England, water scarcity is no longer a future risk. It is a present-day constraint on growth. Planning applications are being delayed, developments are being reconsidered, and water companies are warning that rising demand, climate change and ageing infrastructure are converging into a challenge that could undermine the UK’s housing ambitions.
This summer’s heatwaves have exposed the reality of a changing climate. Longer dry spells, record temperatures and increasing pressure on reservoirs and rivers are becoming the norm rather than the exception.
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The housing sector sits squarely at the centre of this challenge. Maidstone Borough Council’s leader recently called for a delay in large-scale house building over concerns that new developments may not have water supplies.
And new research from the Home Builders Federation claims that the building of nearly 30,000 new homes has been delayed, including 7,000 affordable homes, due to supposed concerns over inadequate wastewater infrastructure.
Hotter future demands different approach
Government analysis has already acknowledged that water availability is becoming a limiting factor for development. In water-stressed regions such as Sussex, Cambridge and parts of the South East, housing projects have faced delays because projected demand exceeds available supply.
Ministers have consulted on tightening water efficiency standards for new homes in recognition that the country’s housing and water challenges can no longer be treated separately.
In a consultation launched by the Government in September 2025, small changes to building regulations that could see new homes fitted with water-saving features such as aerated taps and showerheads and dual flush toilets.
The change to the design standard will make new build housing more water efficient, equivalent to 20 litres per person per day. Analysis has shown this could save £111 a year on energy and water bills in new homes.
The problem is not simply one of supply. Building more reservoirs and upgrading infrastructure is essential, but these are projects measured in decades, not planning cycles. Even with new reservoirs now receiving approval, many will not be operational until the late 2030s or later. Meanwhile, the government is seeking to deliver hundreds of thousands of homes far sooner.
This creates a growing mismatch between housing delivery and resource resilience.
The growing role of behavioural technology
Behaviour change also has a role to play. Opportunities for making a difference exist and are far quicker to implement than large-scale infrastructure projects. Taking shorter showers, fixing leaks quickly and avoiding unnecessary outdoor water use may seem insignificant at an individual level. Yet multiplied across millions of households and businesses, these actions can save hundreds of millions of litres of water every day.
People need better information, clearer feedback and systems that make sustainable choices easier. This is where technology adds value.
Smart meters transformed household awareness of energy use by making consumption visible. The same principle can be applied to water. Real-time monitoring, intelligent building management systems and digital feedback tools can help individuals and organisations understand how their actions translate into resource consumption.
Hotels, student accommodation, offices and large residential developments offer particularly significant opportunities. These high-consumption environments can use data to identify inefficiencies, encourage better behaviours and deliver measurable reductions in water, energy and carbon emissions without compromising comfort or operational performance.
In hospitality, behavioural technology is already delivering measurable results. UK pilot programmes have demonstrated that simple digital interventions and behavioural nudges can reduce shower water consumption by more than 50%, cutting both water use and the energy required to heat it.
Designing for water resilience from day one
The traditional approach has been to build first and solve infrastructure challenges later. That model is becoming increasingly untenable. Every heatwave places additional strain on water networks. Every drought increases the likelihood of restrictions. Every new development adds pressure to systems that are already struggling to cope with changing climatic conditions.
The Government has ordered the building of two major reservoirs, the first to be built in England since 1992, after the lack of reservoir capacity, combined with a rising population and drier summers, has put the country at risk of water shortages.
The answer is not to halt development. The UK desperately needs new homes. The answer is to build differently and to cut our water usage.
Moving the needle
Many believe that by embracing circular economy principles, individuals and communities can contribute to shifting Earth Overshoot Day to a later date, promoting a more sustainable balance between consumption and the planet’s capacity to regenerate. For inventors and innovators, this presents opportunities for new business models, ground-breaking products and a fresh take on service provision.
Water efficiency should become as fundamental to housing design as energy efficiency. Smart water monitoring, leak detection, low-flow fixtures, rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse should move from optional sustainability features to standard practice.
Government figures suggest that reducing household consumption could unlock significant additional housing capacity in constrained regions, demonstrating that demand reduction can be as important as increasing supply.
This is where technology has a critical role to play. The housing sector has embraced smart energy systems, heat pumps and building management technologies to address carbon emissions. Water now requires the same level of innovation and attention. Digital monitoring platforms can identify excessive consumption, detect leaks before they become major losses and help residents understand and reduce their water use in real time.
Water resilience must become a core planning principle
The challenge facing developers is no longer simply how to build more homes. It is how to build homes that remain viable in a hotter, drier future.
Heatwaves are often viewed as a temporary inconvenience. For the housing sector, they should be viewed as a warning. The UK’s housing shortage and water shortage are becoming increasingly intertwined.
Unless water resilience is designed into every stage of development, the country risks finding itself in the paradoxical position of approving homes that the infrastructure of the future cannot sustainably support.
The question is no longer whether the UK can build 1.5 million homes. It is whether it can provide enough water for them.
