Government proposal deals blow to zero carbon homes
The Act enables local authorities in England and Wales to set their own requirements for house builders to include renewable energy and low carbon technologies in new build properties (the so-called Merton Rule).
The suggestion to do away with the Act is part of the Government’s consultation on the Housing Standards Review.
While green energy advocates are angered by this proposal, house builders are welcoming it as a way of cutting red tape and increasing the supply of new homes in the midst of a growing housing crisis.
The Department for Communities and Local Government says it would like to use Building Regulations as the way to drive up energy performance standards. However, recent updates to Part L have been branded by many as “watered down” and a blow to efforts to achieve zero carbon homes.
The DCLG itself had come to a similar conclusion in its impact assessment: “Developers have little reason to build better performing buildings, as they do not enjoy the benefits of lower energy bills or income from energy generated by renewable technologies installed in the building”.
Emma Piercy, Head of Policy at the Micropower Council, says the combination of the weakened Building Regs and scrapping the 2008 Planning and Energy Act “seriously undermines and damages industry confidence in the microgeneration sector”.
“Industry has spent the last few years preparing for Zero Carbon Home regulations and these developments send a signal to investors that the Government is no longer committed to the 2016 target,” says Piercy. “The consultation announced yesterday potentially removes the only real driver for renewables in new build homes at present, which will result in less investment and put at risk jobs in the industry.”
Property developers view the Government’s proposal as clearing the way for more homes to be built.
“It is essential we continue to bear down on unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy to encourage more SME developers to bring new homes to market,” says Beatrice Orchard, Head of Communications at the Federation of Master Builders.
“There is no reason why this should entail any reduction in the standards of new homes being built; indeed clearer and more consistent national standards will be a huge improvement on the current complex system.”
The Solar Trade Association believes the Planning and Energy Act helps local authorities set a ‘gold standard’ for energy efficiency in new developments which goes beyond the minimum requirements set out in the Building Regulations.
“Local authorities must be given the options to run their own affairs, and this should include choosing to build to higher standards of sustainability,” comments Stuart Elmes from the Solar Trade Association.
Andrew Warren, Director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, adds:
“The Planning and Energy Act allows for new housing to be constructed which is sensitive to local circumstances and can capture local opportunities to increase neighbourhoods’ sustainability and resilience.
“The suggestion to scrap the Act flies in the face of localism, good governance, the path to 2016, and the Government’s well-worn claim to be the greenest ever. Set against the backdrop of a watered down minimum standard in the shape of the 2013 Building Regulations, the Act is more important now than it ever has been. The suggestion to scrap the Act quite simply beggars belief and must be dropped.”
There are more than 100 measures Government is seeking to abolish. A full list of them can be viewed here.
Consultation on the Housing Standards Review closes on 22 October.
