BREEM Home Quality Mark

1. Determine eligibility: Confirm your project is a new-build residential development in the UK. HQM is designed exclusively for new homes and is not applicable to retrofits or commercial buildings.

1. Engage a licensed HQM assessor: Find and appoint a BRE-licensed HQM assessor early in the design process. Assessors are listed on the official HQM website and must be engaged before design-stage documentation is submitted.

1. Register the project: Your assessor registers the development with BRE through the HQM online portal, initiating the formal assessment process and establishing the project record.

1. Submit design-stage documentation: Work with your assessor to compile and submit technical drawings, specifications, and performance data for the design-stage review. This covers energy modelling, material specifications, and planned features across all assessed categories.

1. Receive interim (design-stage) certificate: BRE reviews the assessor's submission and, if satisfactory, issues an interim certificate indicating the projected star rating. This can be used for marketing purposes during the build phase.

1. Complete construction and gather as-built evidence: As construction concludes, collect as-built drawings, compliance records, and any additional documentation required to verify that the home was built as designed.

1. Post-construction site inspection: Your licensed assessor conducts a site visit to verify on-the-ground compliance with the design-stage commitments and reviews as-built evidence.

1. Receive final HQM certificate: BRE quality-assures the assessor's post-construction submission and issues the final star-rated HQM certificate for each home or unit, which can be provided to buyers and used in marketing materials.

HQM evaluates new homes across three overarching themes — My Home, My Surroundings, and My Footprint — broken down into a series of scored categories and credits.

My Home focuses on the quality of the dwelling itself and covers: Energy and Thermal Comfort (including energy performance, overheating risk, and heating system quality); Health and Wellbeing (indoor air quality, daylighting, noise, and space standards); and Digital Connectivity (broadband infrastructure and smart home readiness). This theme carries significant weight, as it directly reflects the lived experience of occupants.

My Surroundings assesses the quality of the location and neighbourhood context, including access to transport, local amenities, green space, and flood risk. It recognises that a home's sustainability is partly determined by where it sits and how well-connected it is to services and infrastructure.

My Footprint evaluates the environmental impact of the home, covering operational energy and carbon performance, water consumption, materials and responsible sourcing, ecology and biodiversity net gain, and waste management during construction. Energy and carbon performance is typically the highest-weighted area within this theme.

Homes are scored across all credits and awarded a star rating from 1 to 5, with higher stars reflecting greater performance above the baseline of current UK Building Regulations. A minimum performance threshold must be met in certain mandatory credits — particularly around energy and safety — before a star rating can be awarded. The scheme is regularly updated to align with evolving UK building regulations and net zero targets.

The Home Quality Mark occupies a niche but growing position in the UK residential construction market. Launched by BRE in 2015, it was designed to fill a gap left by the discontinuation of the Code for Sustainable Homes (2015), which had been the primary sustainability benchmark for new residential developments in England. HQM draws on BRE's deep credibility as the creator of BREEAM — the world's most widely used green building standard — lending it significant institutional authority in the UK market.

Adoption has been steady but not universal. Major housebuilders including Barratt Developments, Redrow, and Taylor Wimpey have used HQM on selected developments, and housing associations seeking to demonstrate social and environmental value have shown growing interest. However, HQM competes with a fragmented landscape: some developers use Passivhaus for energy performance, others rely on NHBC warranties, and many simply reference compliance with Part L of the Building Regulations. The absence of a mandatory national standard since the Code for Sustainable Homes was withdrawn means HQM must compete on voluntary market demand rather than regulatory requirement.

The scheme's relevance is increasing as the UK government advances its net zero agenda, the Future Homes Standard (expected from 2025) raises the bar for new-build energy performance, and institutional investors and housing associations face growing ESG reporting obligations. HQM's consumer-facing star rating is a genuine differentiator — it translates complex technical performance into a format that homebuyers can understand and compare. However, awareness among buyers remains limited compared to energy performance certificates (EPCs), which are legally required. Growing interest in healthy homes, indoor air quality, and embodied carbon is likely to support HQM's relevance in the medium term.

The Home Quality Mark was developed by BRE (Building Research Establishment), the UK's leading built environment research organisation and the body behind BREEAM, which has been the global benchmark for sustainable buildings since 1990. HQM was created in response to the UK government's 2015 decision to discontinue the Code for Sustainable Homes — the mandatory sustainability standard for new residential developments — leaving a significant gap in the market for a credible, voluntary residential quality benchmark. BRE launched HQM in 2015 as a successor framework, drawing on the technical rigour of BREEAM but adapting it specifically for the new-build residential sector and the needs of homebuyers rather than commercial property investors.

The scheme was developed through extensive industry consultation with housebuilders, housing associations, local authorities, and consumer groups. It introduced a consumer-friendly one-to-five star rating system — a deliberate departure from BREEAM's percentage-based ratings — to make sustainability performance legible to ordinary homebuyers. Since its launch, HQM has undergone iterative updates to align with changes in UK Building Regulations, including updates to Part L (energy efficiency) and the introduction of biodiversity net gain requirements. BRE has also worked to integrate HQM with the Future Homes Standard consultation process, positioning the scheme as a tool for developers who want to go beyond minimum regulatory compliance as the UK moves toward its 2050 net zero target.