The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has hit out at councils that refuse to hold pre-planning talks with housebuilders.

At this week鈥檚 Chartered Institute of Housing conference, John Slaughter, the HBF鈥檚 external affairs director, said: 鈥淧re-application discussions vary from council to council. Some won鈥檛 talk to us as they claim it鈥檒l damage the democratic process. This isn鈥檛 correct and needs to be put to rest.鈥

鈥 Speaking at the same event, Treasury adviser Kate Barker urged the industry not to commit too early to specific technologies in the dash for zero-carbon homes. She said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to rush towards one type of technology and think it will solve all sorts of problems but they are changing all the time.鈥

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