Low energy efficiency standards cost owners of new homes £234m last year
The UK government’s decision to allow homes to be built to low standards of energy efficiency cost owners of newly built homes about £234m last year, analysis shows.
The zero carbon homes standard was supposed to come into force in 2016, but the measure, which was introduced under Labour, was scrapped by the Conservative government in 2015.
Since 2016, almost 1.2m new homes have been built with energy efficiency standards that are well below those needed in the long term to reach the net zero greenhouse gas emissions target.
The Liberal Democrats have calculated that as each home under the zero carbon standard could have expected an energy bill saving of £200 a year, the cumulative cost to households living in newly built homes has been about £790m since 2016.
The research follows separate findings from Labour last year that suggested owners of newly built homes would face bills of £20,000 to upgrade them to zero carbon standards, a cost of about £20bn for the whole of the UK. If housebuilders had been forced to meet the zero carbon homes standard, the cost would have been about £5bn, and borne by the lucrative homebuilding industry.
The technology needed to build zero carbon homes is already widely available, and in widespread use in other countries. It comprises heat pumps, solar panels, high-grade materials such as thermal glazing, and high-standard insulation.
But these technologies are not widely used in the UK for building new homes, as they are more costly than the current building regulations require.
Homebuilders have been reluctant to build to such requirements, because although it would mean large savings over many years to the owners of the dwellings, using the necessary materials and techniques would add to their
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