Asked by: Lord Whitehead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to make (a) heat pumps, (b) solar panels and (c) other domestic renewable technologies compulsory for new housing in future planning regulations.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Mandating a particular renewable technology may not be appropriate for all dwellings in all areas. National planning policy encourages the use of renewables without requiring any particular technology. In the case of the Building Regulations, the Government sets minimum energy performance standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. These are expressed in performance terms and do not prescribe the technologies, materials or fuels to be used. This allows builders and homeowners the flexibility to innovate and select the most practical and cost-effective solutions appropriate in any development. Not all dwellings may be suitable for solar panels because of their orientation and other reasons such as structural strength of the roof.
In October 2019, we launched the first stage of a two-part consultation that proposed changes to Part L of the Building Regulations for new homes. We proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of a Future Homes Standard. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards This means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards.
We committed in Planning for the Future to review the roadmap to the Future Homes Standard to ensure that implementation takes place to the shortest possible timeline. We will be publishing the Government response to the Future Homes Standard interim uplift consultation as soon as possible. This will set out a roadmap to the Future Homes Standard.
Asked by: Lord Whitehead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to introduce planning regulations to require new build homes to (a) be zero carbon and (b) have built in domestic renewables which generate at least 50 per cent of that home's energy needs by December 2023.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question 121115 on 1 December. I will add that the Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. National Planning Policy expects that local authorities should adopt proactive strategies to reduce carbon emissions, recognising the objectives and provisions of the Climate Change Act 2008. There are provisions in the Planning and Energy Act 2008 that allow development plan policies to impose reasonable requirements for renewable energy use. This means that a proportion of energy used in development in their areas can be energy from renewable sources and/or be low carbon energy from sources in the locality of the development.
Asked by: Lord Whitehead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Government's proposed changes in the use of timber in construction on trends in the level of carbon emissions.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Timber is a way of ensuring the long-term storage of carbon where it can be used safely in buildings.
The consultation following the review of the ban on the use of combustible materials in and on the external walls of buildings closed on 25 May 2020 and we are now analysing the results of the consultation. As part of the next step of the development of the policy, we will produce a detailed impact assessment. No specific assessment of the effect of the proposed changes on trends in the level of carbon emissions has been made.
However, we published an impact assessment when the original ban was first introduced. This document is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ban-on-combustible-materials-in-external-wall-systems-impact-assessment
Asked by: Lord Whitehead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the trends in the level of non-compliance with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive regulations, for the requirement to have a valid Display Energy Certificate across all public buildings.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Government does not routinely hold or collect data to identify public buildings that are frequently visited by the public. Therefore, we have not made an assessment of the current levels of non-compliance in relation to display energy certificates.
Asked by: Lord Whitehead (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for not having a valid Display Energy Certificate under Energy Performance of Buildings Directive regulations.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
There is no requirement on Local Weights and Measures Authorities (LWMAs) to separately identify how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for not having a valid display energy certificate under Energy Performance of Buildings Directive regulations. Therefore the Department does not hold this information centrally but it may be available from individual LWMAs.