Government urged to rethink zero-carbon homes agenda

The government will have to come up with better incentives for housebuilders if it wants to prevent plans for zero-carbon homes from falling apart.

Leaders of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) are warning that sustainable schemes are currently uneconomic and could also threaten overall house building targets.

CJ revealed last week that Cross Key Homes and Galliford Try, and One Peterborough have joined Barratt in walking away from English Partnership's (EP) flagship carbon challenge project at Peterborough because the job is too expensive.

The project aimed to build 450 homes to code level six - the highest standard of sustainable housing and one rarely achieved.

HBF director of external affairs John Slaughter said the companies' withdrawal was a warning for the government that it needs to consider trade-offs to make zero-carbon goals affordable.

He added that confusion still reigns across the industry as to the exact definition of zero carbon.

Slaughter said: "You can't necessarily have everything you want all of the time, so it is about prioritising.

"With the EP site it could reduce the value it is seeking for the site as a landowner. If that doesn't work, then it could look at potential trade-offs, asking what is most important to achieve in this case? Is there more value in terms of demonstrating what can be done with zero carbon in other things?"

He added that the government's current zero-carbon plans could hit overall housebuilding targets.

Slaughter said: "Collectively, controls such as zero carbon and the community infrastructure levy could impact the viability of land for development. Less land would be sold and this would in turn make it difficult for the government to meet its house building targets.

"The industry wouldn't be as big as it could be, or needs to be, and won't meet housing demand."

A spokesperson for the Communities and Local Government department said more than 100 groups had signed declarations of support in principle to achieve zero-carbon goals.

The spokesperson added: "The industry is broadly positive about zero carbon. There may be areas of difficulty, but the Code for Sustainable Homes is not set in stone, it is something that evolves."