Housing secretary launches net zero homes ‘delivery hub’

The new cross-sector Future Homes Task Force has created a multi-million-pound ‘delivery hub’ to manage the housebuilding sector’s drive to meet environmental targets set by the government.

The Task Force is made up of representatives of all the sectors
that shame new homes, including government, housebuilding, utilities, material
suppliers and environmental groups.

The various parties met yesterday with industry leaders at
the second Housing and Environment Summit to discuss the construction and
fabric efficiency challenges that the government’s targets present.

The delivery hub aims to co-ordinate numerous issues and
regulatory requirements into an overarching masterplan to sequence and
prioritise workstreams across the sector, including with its supply chains.

Among the challenges faced by the housebuilding industry are:
achieving net zero greenhouse gases; water issues; the impact of new homes on
bio-diversity and nature; what resources are used and waste is produced; air
quality; flood and climate resistance; the wider effect housing has on its
social and built environment.

The Task Force aims to align them into three main areas of
focus:

1. Place making and the impact new homes have on the wider environment .
2. Working with utility companies on connection and infrastructure issues – the shift to electric only heating and car charging points for example will hugely increase demand and pressure on local networks.
3. The ‘fabric of the house’ – to achieve world leading energy efficient new homes: Low carbon heating, with no new homes using gas by 2025; More ambitious water efficiency standards, green roofs, reflective walls; Improved flood resilience; Triple glazed windows and more fresh air, mechanical ventilation and passive cooling; Electric car charging points

The Task Force’s masterplan will allow for the Delivery Hub
to plot a route through that meets the requirements of Government and the needs
of consumers.

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said: “This government is
improving building standards and overhauling our outdated planning system as a
priority. By putting communities in control of what is built locally we will
deliver better designed, more sustainable buildings and the homes that are needed
for the next generation.

“I look forward to seeing the recommendations and plans of
the Future Homes Task Force later this year to support this exciting agenda as
we work towards a cleaner, greener and more beautiful built environment.”

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman at the Home Builders Federation
said: “The environmental agenda is an absolute priority for the UK’s house
building industry and one on which we are committed to leading the way. We have
been set a huge challenge by government, but it is one we are determined to
deliver. We will work with government and stakeholders to set ambitious but
deliverable goals that will ensure we make our contribution to environmental
targets and achieve our ambition of net zero homes and a net zero industry. The
work of the Task Force will help deliver homes that we can all be proud of as a
nation and future generations will thank us for.”