Commenting on the publication of the Government’s Energy White Paper today, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) Stewart Baseley says:
“HBF is committed to working with the Government on its objective that all new homes should reach a zero carbon performance standard from 2016.
“Realising this objective will depend critically on the availability and cost-effectiveness of suitable renewable and low-carbon energy supplies.
“There are many relevant proposals in the White Paper relating to biomass, decentralised generation and the promotion of renewable energy. We will need to look carefully at whether between them these proposals provide a sufficient basis for the industry to plan successfully and with confidence for the future.
“The acid test will be whether today’s proposals support the home building industry by creating a national framework enabling it to deliver a sufficient number of zero-carbon homes by 2016 - so that we can tackle the housing supply crisis as well as being sustainable.”
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Notes to editors:
1. The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the principal trade federation for private sector home builders and voice of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms account for over 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk
2. The Energy White Paper was published by the Department of Trade & Industry on 23 May 2007:
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=286525&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False
3. In the Pre-Budget Report in 2006, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out the Government’s intention to make all new homes zero-carbon by 2016. This followed on from the Government’s acceptance of recommendations set out in Kate Barker’s report on housing supply that 200,000 new homes each year should be built by 2016.
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