Reaction to Future Homes announcement
Yesterday (19th January) the government published their plans to introduce rigorous new energy efficiency standards to lower energy consumption and bills, helping to protect the environment.
The full announcement can be read HERE (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rigorous-new-targets-for-green-building-revolution
Speaking about the government’s announcement on Future Homes and Future Buildings standards Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive of the Northern Housing Consortium, said:
“Net zero is a key priority for our members – the vast majority of the North’s councils have declared climate emergencies, so we welcome this further progress towards making new homes net zero.”
“However, we still need a Standard for existing homes – 80% of the homes we will have in 2050 have already been built. In November last year we published a plan to retrofit the North’s homes which could deliver 77,000 new jobs across the North and deliver and additional £3.85bn GVA to the North annually, whilst helping deliver on the governments Net Zero targets. We believe that a specific roadmap for retrofitting existing homes is not only necessary for decarbonisation but for financial recovery from the Covid crisis too.”
Commenting on the news that local authorities will still be able to set energy efficiency standards that go further than national minimums, Tracy Harrison added:
“We welcome the fact that councils will still be able to set higher standards where these are felt to be appropriate. However, for this plan to be successful, and to enable real action on net zero at a local level, already under-resourced Local Authorities will need support to rebuild their housing and planning capacity.”
For further comment please contact james.burman@northern-consortium.org.uk
