Zero-carbon research hit by building fall-off
- Published: 09 July 2008 14:34
- Last Updated: 09 July 2008 14:35
The latest casualty of the stricken housing market is set to be research into the Government's sustainable codes for new homes.
All new build housing will have to meet level 6 - the zero-carbon target - by 2016.
But this week one of the key agencies involved in the plan admitted that finding ways to get to level 6 would suffer because house builders are cutting back on the amount of homes they will build over the next two years.
Robert Napier, the chairman of English Partnerships, which is hosting a number of test sites for level 6, including one Barratt is building in Gloucestershire, said: "There will be less learning in the next two years than we would have liked. We have got to be realistic about what's going on."
But Mr Napier said house builders shouldn't use the current situation as an excuse to renege on meeting the 2016 targets. He said: "We don't want to be waking up in four or five years' time with nothing done on this because firms were under pressure in 2008/09."
EP, which regenerates disused land, normally publishes its target figures for how many homes it expects to build on its sites this month.
But Mr Napier said the numbers - which cover the period up to March 2009 - are now likely to be published in September. He added: "House builders are revising their forecasts on a daily basis. It is the speed of decline that has caught everyone at the moment."
In 2007/08, EP attracted a record £1.3 billion of private sector investment with just over 11,000 new homes starting on site - 14 per cent up on last year.
