The Queen’s speech on Tuesday 6 November brought us news of a new body, The Homes and Communities Agency, which has been created as part of the Housing and Regeneration Bill. The agency’s tasks will include ensuring three million additional homes are built across England by 2020, delivering a greater supply of social and affordable private homes, improving the level of service that social tenants receive, and ensuring future housing developments are environmentally friendly.
Putting aside the argument about whether we need another new agency responsible for housing in the UK (because we simply don’t have room enough to debate the matter properly), what should we hope for from The Homes and Communities Agency? Clearly, delivering three million new homes by 2020 – that’s 240,000 new homes annually for the next 12 or so years (last year around 160,000 were built) – including social and affordable homes, and in an environmentally friendly manner, is a tall order.
The fact is the new agency is on a hiding to nothing whilst ever we don’t have joined-up thinking when it comes to the environment and housing requirements in the UK. Contradictions and misunderstanding are to be found at every turn. For example, Tony Blair pledged that the UK would reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 (and by 60 per cent by 2050, which will be legally binding) but the new PM, Gordon Brown, tried to wriggle his way out of the commitment a few weeks ago. At the same time Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, suggested Britain might achieve 10-15 per cent by the earlier deadline, falling at least 25 per cent short of its avowed target. Currently, only two per cent of Britain’s energy is supplied from renewables.
As laudable as the government’s target are for all new homes to be zero carbon by 2016, the focus needs to be on existing dwellings too if we are to have a hope of reaching the emission reduction targets. How so? Britain has 24 million dwellings. At rate of building of new homes at 240,000 per year (something not achieved since the 1960s), that’s only one per cent of our housing needs addressed annually. If 27 per cent of our CO2 emissions are from homes, as the Carbon Trust attests, we are making few inroads until we address our existing housing stock.
Fortunately, or so we initially thought, a new government website offers some help. Set up “to help you act on reducing CO2 emissions now and in the future” it lists a number of ‘top line’ measures for us each to limit our carbon footprint. What it doesn’t do, however, is list a number of grants that are available to householders. Instead, they can be found on the Low Carbon Building Programme website which we only we found through The Energy Saving Trust website. See what we mean about joined-up thinking? It’s not made easy to be eco-aware!
Yes, there are a number of grants available if you now where to look and have the perseverance to submit an application and go through planning and so on to install, for example, photovoltaic cells on your roof. Currently, via the Low Carbon Buildings Programme “the maximum grant is £2,000 per kW of installed capacity, subject to an overall maximum of £2,500 or 50% of the relevant eligible costs, whichever is the lower”. Grants are also available for wind turbines, small hydro, and ground source heat pumps among other initiatives.
The grants are a start – if we are to seriously address reducing CO2 emissions from our homes – but they don’t go anything like far enough. The ground source heat pump installation grant amounts to a maximum of £1,200,which includes installation costs. You would do well to get change out of £10,000 to buy and have installed a system in an average house in Britain. Put bluntly, unless properly incentivised, the vast majority of the public is simply not going to bother no matter how much they may say they care about the environment.
Several recent polls have borne out that attitudes do not beget action. A new Eco Atttudes ICM report, recently released for the 100th Ideal Home Show, reveals we are a nation of eco-cynics and green ego-centrics, with many of us not believing we can make a difference, exaggerating our eco friendliness and only recycling because it is fashionable.
The Eco Attitudes report canvassed opinion around the UK on a range of eco topics. The report found that whilst half (57%) believe a difference can be made if everyone makes the effort, most people (78%) don’t think everyone is making the effort. There are also quite a number of us who don’t believe that taking any of these measures will make any difference at all (15%).
The report found a disconnection between how we view ourselves and how we behave. Most (83%) have big eco egos, considering themselves to act in an environmentally friendly way, but this doesn’t quite match up with the reality. Whilst most Brits are fairly good at some things: 80% claim to use energy saving light bulbs; 90% fill the kettle with the exact amount of water; 83% recycle paper, glass and plastic; and 82% take old clothes to charity shops.
The report finds we don’t quite live up to our egos in other areas: 75% don’t use eco friendly detergents; 81% don’t check wooden items come from sustainable sources; 44% turn the heating up instead of adding an extra layer; 39% regularly leave the free-view box on; a quarter (22%) leave mobile phone chargers switched on when not in use; and 32% leave the TV on standby.
In a recent Norwich and Peterborough Building Society (N&P) survey, 89% of respondents agreed with the government’s plans to make all new homes zero carbon by 2016. Yet when asked to rank ten features in order of preference for inclusion in their ‘dream home’, ‘Environmentally-friendly’ came only seventh in the overall priority list, being beaten by ‘designer kitchen’ (1st), ‘all bedrooms ensuite’ (2nd), ‘designer bathroom or wet room’ (3rd), ‘landscaped gardens’ (4th), and ‘open plan living’ and ‘home cinema’ (joint 5th).
Richard Lloyd, managing director of Hockleys Professional and one of the judges for N&P’s Eco Self-Build competition, said: “Although it is encouraging that people are happy to back the Government’s zero-carbon homes commitment, it’s sad to see that they’re not so keen to make a difference using their own properties. Although adding green features to your home may seem like additional cost, people need to remember that they can make a difference with simple, relatively cheap methods such as energy-saving light bulbs or improving insulation.
So, in the light of such a lacklustre effort, how can the government mobilise us to put our money where our mouth is so to speak? Well, we argue, cash incentives are one way that tends to focus most of our minds. How about removing VAT on energy-efficient home improvements? What about reducing Council Tax for properties with a high energy-efficiency rating? Or feed-in tariffs for electricity generated from photovoltaic cells on the roofs of people’s homes sold back to the power companies?
Of course all of these measures would cost the treasury, but as the Stern Review and other climate change studies have demonstrated inaction simply is not an option if we are to halt the damage being done to the environment. Yes, they would involve more bureaucracy, but the assessors who undertake inspections for the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), that is now a requirement of the Home Information Pack (HIP) for vendors, could perform the role. Naturally, there would have to be a fee – but it should be VAT exempt and redeemable against costs incurred for implementing green technology.
Ultimately, none of the suggestions are revolutionary – and there are several more we’ve heard that are equally valid and could be implemented if (there’s always an if) the political will is genuine, or the government is compelled to take action because public pressure is brought to bear. So, can we exert any influence? What’s your opinion on the broader subject of energy conservation and thus CO2 emission reductions? We’d very much like to know, which is why we are introducing HAVE YOUR SAY to the site. It will be a simple YES or NO click process to the following question: Is the British government doing enough to encourage energy saving measures in our homes?
Once compiled, if the majority believe no it isn’t doing enough, we’ll go about lobbying the government to implement measures that incentivise us all to reduce our carbon footprint in significant ways. If, on the other hand, more of you that New Labour is doing a good job of encouraging energy saving initiatives, I’ll eat my hat (was that thought supposed to stay in my head?!). No, we’ll be sure to write to Gordon Brown and pass on your congratulations. Let democracy be the winner!
