黑洞社区

MPs have slammed the government鈥檚 plans to axe the code for sustainable homes as a part of efforts to cut red tape in the house building industry.

The proposal to scrap the Code for Sustainable Homes formed part of the government鈥檚 Housing Standards Review, which proposes using building regulations or national standards as the driver for improvement in homes鈥� green credentials.

A report by the Environmental Audit Committee, published today, found that scrapping the Code for Sustainable homes would 鈥渞adically curtail鈥� local choice and introduce a 鈥渓owest-common-denominator鈥� set of national standards.

It added that the government had 鈥渇ailed to back green growth and green innovation鈥� with its plans.

The finding chimes with 黑洞社区鈥檚 own Green for Growth campaign, which has been pressing the government to implement greener policies all year.

The report also said the latest research on the decreasing cost of renewable energy had not been considered.

Joan Walley, Labour MP and chair of the committee, said communities secretary Eric Pickles 鈥渟hould think again鈥� before axing the code.

She said:  鈥淗undreds of thousands of homes have to be built in the coming decades. Smart energy and water saving measures 鈥� which will ultimately save homeowners money on their bills 鈥� must become the norm if we want our homes to be fit for the future.鈥�

Jo Wheeler, senior policy advisor at the UK Green 黑洞社区 Council, said the Code had 鈥渢ransformed the industry鈥檚 attitude to sustainability鈥� and 鈥渟et a clear direction for future standards鈥�.

鈥淲ith the demise of the Code and big omissions in the Housing Standards Review consultation around issues like materials, we risk losing a momentum that has transformed the way homes have been built over the last seven years.鈥�

But John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the Home Builders Federation, said the committee had not 鈥減robed the issue enough鈥� and the Code had 鈥渉ad its day鈥�.

鈥淭hey are assuming the Code is an incredibly efficient way of moving standards forward and that鈥檚 not necessarily the case at all. There are lots of different ways that it is applied across the country,鈥� he said.

Communities minister Stephen Williams said new homes were already being built to 鈥渉igh standards of energy efficiency鈥�.

He added: 鈥淭here exists however an array of additional standards that councils can apply, or not, on their patch creating a bureaucratic mish mash of rules that housebuilders face across the country.

鈥淲e are consulting on how best to end this confusion and create a simple and effective set of standards that councils and housebuilders can understand and that support new homebuilding without compromising safety orsustainability standards.鈥�