Council leaders and Mayors have called on the Government to abandon proposed restrictions on their ability to cut carbon emissions from housebuilding.
In an open letter to the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the group, including Mayors of London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, demand freedom to set higher standards than the Government is proposing nationally.
The letter – coordinated by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) – urges the Government to scrap its recent proposal (in the consultation on Part L of the Building Regulations and the Future Homes Standard) to restrict local planning authorities from setting higher energy efficiency standards for dwellings.
It states that “local leadership is absolutely central to achieving the Government’s commitment to net zero carbon.”
With many local and combined authorities having declared a climate emergency, the letter also recognises that “there are many benefits of reducing carbon emissions from new homes, such as improved health and wellbeing, better design quality and support for advanced methods of construction.”
The full letter is available here.
