Government plans for a ‘green housing revolution’ are unworkable, developers have warned.
Ministers want tough standards to slash the carbon footprint of new homes from 2025, with ‘stepping stone’ measures before then.
The shake-up will see developers banned from connecting properties to the gas grid and encouraged to roll out air-source heat pumps, solar panels, and better insulation.
But housing bosses believe a deadline for the first changes this year is unrealistic because the UK lacks the workforce and enough heat pumps.
Pete Redfern, the boss of Taylor Wimpey, said firms have been told to prepare for an October deadline. ‘We just don’t think that’s workable – there’s just not the supply chain.
‘Having a much longer run-in period… we’d actually grab. Sometimes doing things better but taking a bit longer is the right result.’
Industry group the Home Builders Federation (HBF) also branded the proposals ‘unrealistic’ and urged a delay.
The Government has vowed to cut the UK’s carbon footprint to ‘net zero’ by 2050, with home emissions key.
Ministers have promised a ‘future homes standard’ in 2025, slashing emissions from new homes by 75 percent to 80 percent.
‘Stepping stone’ measures will be introduced earlier, with an official consultation proposing ‘mid to late’ 2020. The hope is that these will cut new home emissions by 31 percent.
A less ambitious, second option would cut them by 20 percent.
Developers say the preferred option would probably require them to stop using gas heating systems and use air-source heat pumps instead.
But the HBF said the annual output of these pumps is just 38,000, against 250,000 homes that were built in 2019.
It also says there are only around 900 registered heat pump engineers.
The industry group favors the less ambitious option and for an 18-24 month ‘transition’ period. This would delay the 31 percent targets until 2023.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We have set an ambitious but achievable target.’
Read more at Daily Mail
The Government has presumably told the builders how to build new homes without any use of fossil fuels, concrete, metals, transport, also how to make heat pumps etc without such bad things. Sooner or later the general hysteria will begin to collapse into some kind of sanity. Maybe when MPs homes get too cold? or the sun does not shine much, or when the wind stops blowing, or not enough fossil fuel is around to make solar panels and wind turbines? or when the mental hospitals are too full of people needing heat and food?
‘ collapse into…sanity’ I like it.
Maybe when people see that Green Deals and pandemics have the same effects on society.
There is more wrong with the plan than the schedule. The solar panels only work when the sun shines. Also, I have talked to people who have used heat pumps and they are adequate only to a certain temperature. The UK is going to increase how many are living in the cold.
And while America advances into the 21st Century Europe will revert back to a Hunter/Gatherer Society choose mate hit over head with club drag her home by the hair of her head Unga Munga
Just one more example of the government stating someone must do something by such-and-such a date doesn’t mean that what they are required to do is feasible. But that doesn’t stop governments from declaring it must be done. Like King Canute saying that the ocean tides must stop.
The end game is we revert to hunter – gatherers, dragging our yurts north and south with the seasons.
I keep wondering when the citizens are going to raise up in revolt with their pitchforks!
Burricrats don’t solve problems they make problems