Only 22 developments have been certified under the Code for Sustainable Homes since it came into force a year and a half ago.

Alan Yates, BRE鈥檚 technical director, last week told a Home Builders Federation conference that 22 schemes had received certificates between May 2007 and October 2008.

He blamed the low figure on the length of time the process takes 鈥� buildings are certified after completion 鈥� and said he would 鈥渆xpect that number to grow reasonably quickly鈥�.

He said almost 3,000 schemes had registered for the code, which means they may apply for certificates in due course.

Ant Wilson, a director of Faber Maunsell, said: 鈥淚t is a low figure but it鈥檚 not surprising because it takes quite a lot of time to go through the certification process and there has been a reduction in the number of houses being built.鈥�

鈥� The UK Green 黑洞社区 Council is launching a three-week consultation on a Code for Sustainable 黑洞社区s on Monday. It will ask the industry whether it is needed and, if so, how wide the parameters should be.

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