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The Government has recently confirmed that small housing sites will be exempt from the zero carbon homes policy.
Eric Pickles, UK Communities Secretary, said in his written statement to Parliament, that the Government will exempt Small housing sites of 10 units or fewer from the Allowable Solutions element of the policy, to reduce the burden on small house builders.
“The 2016 zero carbon standard should provide people with the highest level of energy efficiency and the opportunity to generate their own free, clean power. It’s disappointing that Government is looking to exempt one in five new homes from this and potentially condemn those households to higher energy costs for decades to come.” said Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council, in a recent consultation, highlighting UK-GBC’s discontent for the Government’s move, “However, there have been deep divides on this policy within the Coalition and some ministers have fought tooth and nail to retain the ambition of the zero carbon policy. Their efforts need to be commended.”
The UK Government’s initial plan was to ensure all new homes built from 2016 to meet the zero carbon homes standard.
Unfortunately, this moves will cut off a large portion of the new housing from the above target. According to official figures, 21% of new housing developments in 2013 were between one and 10 units.
The zero carbon small sites exemption was first announced in the Queen’s Speech in June 2014.
Allowable Solutions is the overarching term for the carbon off-setting projects or measures which house builders may support to achieve the zero carbon homes standard. One of the four options for delivering Allowable Solutions is delivering a higher standard of energy efficiency or renewables on the home.
Source: UK GBC
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