Housebuilders fleecing home owners out of £4m a year

Housebuilders' failure to install the most efficient appliances and boilers in brand new homes is costing home owners over £4m every year, according to research published today (Tuesday).

Research by the National Home Energy Rating (NHER) scheme and Pilkington Energy Efficiency Trust found that 80% of all appliances installed in new homes have an energy rating of B or above, the difference between the ideal situation - where all new homes are fitted with A-rated appliances - and the situation NHER found in its research produces over 2,800t of CO2 annually.
 
Most appliances are sold with energy labels rating their efficiency on a scale of A to G.  The difference in cost for housebuilders between providing A-rated and C-rated appliances is insignificant, and in some cases A-rated appliances are cheaper.

The situation is much worse when it comes to heating systems in new homes.  NHER research suggests that half of all new homes are currently being built with the least efficient, D-rated boilers. 

On average, D-rated boilers emit 0.2 tonnes more CO2 than A-rated boilers and cost £30 a year more to run in a typical new house.  That adds up to 16,000 tonnes of CO2 and about £2.4million in extra cost to home owners every year.

NHER is calling for future revisions to Building Regulations to impose new minimum energy standards for the installation of appliances in new homes, to complement the changes to the boiler regulations from April 2005.