4 INDUSTRY NEWS
FROM THE EDITOR
James Parker
The Government has had to announce the canning of another major green home upgrade initiative, handily buried under the continued controversy around Covid vaccines and other pressing concerns. The Green Homes Grant can only be described as a disaster, and it’s highly unlikely that the way it was introduced would have led to success even without Covid’s presence.
Despite hosting the international COP26 climate conference this year in Glasgow, and remaining committed to zero carbon by 2050, the Government has cancelled a scheme which could have seen 600,000 homes making a much lower contribution to our emissions. The scheme’s track record of only upgrading 10 per cent of the 600,000 homes targeted since its September 2020 launch is pretty depressing, especially when, as it is believed, 19 million homes need insulation upgrades for us to hit climate targets.
The Government is conveniently blaming Covid, saying that homeowners didn’t want contractors coming into their houses. However, in some areas installers were reportedly incapable of serving high demand, and the system of checking on the payments they received was so onerous that some went out of business due to delays in getting paid. Also, there are stories about installers fleecing customers, and charging nearly double the cost of work done, bringing back memories of the failed Green Deal.
Government is trying, as ever, to spin this new failure, by cheerleading its redirection of the rest of the £2bn cash for the GHG to a local fund for councils to spend on upgrades.
ON THE COVER
Brian Berry – why the Government needs to put small and medium sized builders at the heart of green goals
04.21
HOUSEBUILDER & DEVELOPER
The NFB’s Mark Wakeford looks at the barriers the industry faces in building a zero carbon future
Scott McAndrew of ITW on why timber is seeing a resurgence on beauty as well as practicality grounds
The Government hasn’t had a very good couple of weeks for its programmes for the construction industry, with Redrow (rarely the bearer of bad news), saying that its market research shows that the new National Model Design Code is not going to work. Similarly snuck out under the Covid news blanket in January, the NMDC includes comprehensive guidelines on the shape of future housing for planners to adhere to.
Redrow says its research found that over half of local officials are “not sufficiently familiar with it to give a view on how it will be received by their constituents.” The housebuilder is concerned that a YouGov poll gave more insights into consumers’ real views, showing that the proposed new guidelines, including promotion of three-storey townhouses for instance, “do not align with the nation’s desires for their future homes.”
KICK-OFF AT WEMBLEY Hub Group brings 239 homes to north west London – kickstarting local regeneration
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This is a huge and complex issue, and efficient land use and sustainability need to be accounted for among all the other priorities, but perhaps there’s something of a chicken and egg argument here. It’s arguable that consumers prefer what they’re used to - i.e. semi-detached and two-storey terraced homes, and one day a big detached home. But if they become more familiar with better quality three-storey homes, made accessible and sustainable and in the right location, maybe they will start to become what they want and expect in the future.
James Parker
HOUSEBUILDER & DEVELOPER
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