HBA hits back at government emissions targets

The House Builders Association has hit back at the government’s carbon reduction plans with a series of recommendations to get other sectors to take responsibility for the issue of climate change.

The body was particularly critical of the gap between the government’s target for all new homes to be carbon zero by 2016, compared with an aspiration for the energy industry to achieve 20% renewable energy by 2020.

It called on the government to remove regulatory obstacles holding back the energy industry, including "barriers to investment in new plant, the freedom consumers have to switch to cheaper, less green suppliers, and realistic energy pricing which encourages consumers to change their behaviour".

HBA also complained that there was too much of a focus on new homes, when existing homes produce three times as much CO₂ as homes built to the 2006 building regulations. It recommened the introduction of a carbon offset levy, to be paid by housebuilders, in the form of a fixed payment per house, to be used by local authorities to invest in local energy conservation schemes.