17th December 2008 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On the day that the Government launched its consultation on the definition of Zero Carbon, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned that the definition is in danger of becoming irrelevant if the Government does not make the big decisions on its housing priorities.
Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the Federation of Master Builders, said:
“The problem is that the Government still does not understand that it needs to make choices. If you keep forcing up the build costs through ever increasing design specifications, taxes, and planning restrictions; affordability suffers, demand falls and fewer homes are built as a result. While we welcome the long overdue consultation on the definition of Zero Carbon, it is going to achieve nothing if people cannot afford to buy the houses built to these standards, and we end up building even fewer houses than we are now, as a result. ”
Berry continued:
“The Government needs to see the bigger picture and make some tough decisions. If the Government really wants to improve the environmental performance of the housing stock, then they would be better placed developing a comprehensive coherent strategy to deal with the UK’s existing housing stock both in terms of helping to create more homes and making our existing stock more energy efficient and greener. Currently there are 850,000 empty homes in the UK which could be brought back into use. Given that homes are responsible for 27 per cent of the country's carbon emissions and that roughly 75 per cent of our current housing will still be standing in 2050 urgent action is needed now to make our homes greener and more energy efficient. In terms of making our homes greener, recent research from Oxford University, which was commissioned by the FMB, calculates that there is a new market worth between £3.5 and £6.5 billion per annum to refurbish our existing homes. What is needed is the push from the Government to kick start this market which would not only help the building industry but help meet the Government’s target to cut carbon emissions and reduce fuel poverty.”
