Welsh Government capitulates to house building industry

18 July 2013

The Welsh Government has removed Wales from the driving seat of innovation, research and development with its planned energy efficiency standards for new homes.

A government consultation that closed in October 2012 announced the Welsh Government's preferred option would be for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of a new home. A less ambitious alternative for a 25% reduction was regarded as being more costly to the economy as a whole[1].

Yesterday the Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Carl Sargeant, announced that the government will require an emission reduction of just 8%[2].

Director of Friends of the Earth Cymru, Gareth Clubb, said:

"This announcement is a serious blow to the Welsh Government's credibility on sustainability. Just two days ago the Sustainable Development Bill was renamed the Future Generations Bill. Yet immediately we see the Welsh Government apparently undermining the very future generations it claims to be protecting.

"The Welsh Government has capitulated to the well-financed housebuilding lobby. This decision will lock-in future generations to higher energy bills, more fuel poverty and lower quality housing.

"And yet the Welsh Government knows that zero carbon housing can be delivered at reasonable cost using Welsh materials and Welsh contractors because it was a partner in a scheme that built such houses in Ebbw Vale in 2010[3]. A zero carbon requirement would have put Wales in the driving seat of housing innovation, research and development. As it stands we're once again bringing up the rear".

NOTES

1. Welsh Government  Consultation on Building Regulations Part L 
2. Welsh Government Written Statement
3. BRE Wales - Welsh Future Homes

For further information, please contact Friends of the Earth Cymru on 029 2022 9577