Aug 9 2007
Housing Minister Yvette Cooper today hailed an agreement with housebuilders and councils which will make zero carbon housing a reality within 10 years - and urged other partners in the industry to follow suit and 'sign the green pledge' by emailing her Department.
Key members of the homebuilding industry, councils, green groups and homeless organisations have given their support to the Government’s housing agenda by signing up to Communities and Local Government’s 2016 Commitment, joining with it in an ambition to build 240,000 new zero carbon homes a year by 2016. The text of the agreement the founder members have signed up to was publicly unveiled today.
The broad cross-section of support for the Commitment will help ensure that the homes produced over the next decade are designed and built in sustainable ways, helping to reduce carbon emissions while still delivering the types of communities where people want to live.
The Commitment formalises ongoing work between ministers at Communities and Local Government and those involved in the housing sector. The parties have agreed:
- that by 2016, all new homes will be build to zero carbon standards;
- that over the interim period, new homes will be built to increasingly higher environmental standards
- to work closely together to resolve obstacles to reaching these targets.
Yvette Cooper said:
"We desperately need to tackle the threat of climate change - and we desperately need new homes for young families and first time buyers. Our homes currently produce 27% of all carbon emissions. We were the first country in the world to announce a zero-carbon target for new homes.
"We have to build more sustainable homes and more affordable homes at the same time. This can not be achieved without the commitment and support of local councils, homebuilders, the construction supply industry, other housing groups and local communities across the country.
"I strongly welcome the number of groups who have signed up to this shared ambition. No-one underestimates the scale of the challenge but this shows the extend of the support for more affordable and sustainable housing. I urge others to join with us in this shared commitment to the future of the nation's homes."
Stewart Baseley of the Home Builders' Federation said:
“Increasing supply to 240,000 homes a year and achieving a zero carbon standard from 2016 is an important but demanding double challenge. Homebuilders are willing to play their part, but need government and many others to help if we are to be successful. We very much welcome therefore the public pledge to partnership working by all those involved in the 2016 Commitment."
Cllr Paul Bettison, the Local Government Association’s spokesperson on Environment, said:
"Councils are in the front line of the fight against climate change. Reducing the impact of global warming is one of the most important challenges facing both the country and the planet. Through their strategic local leadership, planning, and other functions, they will be critical to making inroads into the 27% of carbon emissions from housing while also securing the big increases in new homes which we need in ways which match local circumstances."
Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council, said:
“The UK Green Building Council and its members whole-heartedly support the Commitment. The time for blaming others is past; what we need to do is to pull together to realise the zero carbon target by 2016. Government, industry and NGOs all have important roles to play, in ensuring that the homes we are building for the future minimise energy demand and meet any remaining needs from renewable energy sources. We need to build homes fit for future generations, and affordable for both people and the planet.”
Simon McWhirter, WWF's Senior Campaigns Officer, said:
"The way our homes are built at present, while better than in previous generations, still has an unacceptably large impact on the environment. The target of making all new homes zero carbon by 2016 is literally about building for the future and if we don't get the right processes set in motion now, we just won't get the system change needed to make significant cuts in the carbon outputs of our new homes.
"We're glad that through this Commitment, government, business and the environmental lobbies are lending their joint support to drive this forward. There is no doubting that there are significant challenges ahead, not least in ensuring that the safeguards enjoyed through a consultative planning system remain solidly in place, but we're confident they are eminently surmountable through this partnership."
Adam Sampson, Chief Executive of Shelter, said:
"Shelter welcomes the 2016 Commitment as a powerful statement of intent. This demonstrates our joint commitment not only to deliver more homes but to do so in an environmentally sustainable way. It is through this collaboration that the benefits of environmentally sustainable housing can be delivered to all residents, including the most excluded in our society, for example through lower fuel bills."