Ahead of Ministers publishing a Code for Sustainable Homes and a Planning Policy Statement on Climate Change tomorrow (13th December) Roger Humber, strategic policy advisor to the House Builders Association, part of the National Federation of Builders, said:
�The Government will jeopardise the increase in new home building that Ministers claim to want if they impose excessive, eye-catching, sustainability requirements on house builders.
�Announcing, as Chancellor Gordon Brown did last week, that every new home will be �zero carbon� within ten years without also setting out realistic and implementable plans to deliver renewable energy on a large, commercial scale, is no more than gesture politics on a grand scale.
�In publishing the Code for Sustainable Homes, Ministers are in serious danger of encouraging local authorities to demonstrate their green credentials by making excessive demands for new housing schemes in a way that is no more than an expensive gimmick.
�Local authorities will be able to use the code to impose inappropriate performance standards through planning rather than through properly tested building regulations.
�Proposals under the building regulations must be thoroughly tested and a Regulatory Impact Statement is required which demonstrates what the real costs will be. Government must not introduce expensive requirements through the back door, which could be misused.�
�A carbon offset levy on new homes would provide a cost effective boost to revenues to fund improvements to existing housing stock. Expecting house builders to install wind turbines and other devices is a waste of money and will slow house building down.
�Moreover, it leaves homeowners with a legacy of maintenance and replacement that many will be unwilling to accept, quickly making these installations redundant.�
For further information contact Roger Humber on mobile 07850 386890
Notes:
Tomorrow, 13 December, Ministers are expected to publish a Code for Sustainable Homes and a Planning Policy Statement on Climate Change.
In its interim report for DCLG by Arup and Turner & Townsend, �Feasibilty Study to examine making the Thames Gateway Low carbon/zero carbon development area� (November 2006) defines Zero Carbon as �developments achieve no net emissions by reducing carbon through on site renewable energy and balancing inputs with exports to the national grid�.
Speaking in the House of Lords on 11 December DEFRA Minister
Jeff Rooker said: �We have a stock of about 25 million dwellings.
Dealing with the stock is much more important than new build. We
have to do both but dealing with the stock is extremely
difficult�It requires innovation and will be not be a
one-size-fits-all solution.�