Eco No-Go
6th November 2008
Gordon Brown’s eco-town programme is in disarray with only one of 12 shortlisted sites meeting the Government’s criteria.
Three projects have already been withdrawn, and Margaret Beckett, the new Housing Minister, has now vetoed another in Leeds, suggesting that it should be a pilot for an urban eco-community instead. Only three of the 12 have local council backing and the Local Government Association is threatening legal action over the failure to follow planning procedures.
Ministers say every town must have at least 40% of its area as "green space". The Tories say they are "an eco-con". The Lib Dems call it an "eco-gimmick".
The government intends to build up to ten eco-towns in England, which it says will be subject to the "toughest ever green standards".
Its shortlist has been reduced to 12 sites after plans for a town at the former RAF airfield at Coltishall in Norwich, which had been opposed locally, were dropped.
Instead Norwich authorities proposed the Rackheath scheme, which, following a study into their likely impact on the environment and local community, is the only site to have won an "A" rating, meaning it faces fewer potential obstacles than any other location.
Western Otmoor was given the lowest "C" rating, described as only suitable if there is "substantial and exceptional innovation".
Mrs Beckett confounded critics and angered town halls by pressing ahead with the scheme yesterday and adding two more sites – in Oxford and Norwich. Rackheath, near Norwich, has been propelled to the top of the shortlist as the only site with a grade A for its suitability for an eco-town site. The other, at northwest Bicester, Oxfordshire, has been put forward as an alternative to Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire (given the lowest grade C).
The assessments of merits of the various locations, made for ministers by Scott Wilson, a design, planning and environmental consultant, point to difficulties over transport, particularly regarding overcrowded roads and car dependency, at some potential sites. The proximity of rail stations in other cases is regarded as positive. Further schemes would involve the loss of large greenfield areas and there are doubts about whether some sites would be able to develop their own independent identity.
The Conservatives claim that Mrs Beckett has moved the goalposts for building eco-towns and altered the list in an attempt to keep the project alive. She has also delayed any announcement of the final shortlist until March or April by announcing a second consultation to cover the 12 schemes outlined yesterday.
The current shortlist of 12 potential locations for ecotowns is:
• Rackheath, Greater Norwich: Grade A
• Middle Quinton, Warwickshire: Grade B
• Newton-Bingham (Rushcliffe), Nottinghamshire: Grade B
• Ford, West Sussex: Grade B
• Bordon-Whitehill, Hampshire: Grade B
• St Austell (China Clay Community), Cornwall: Grade B
• Rossington, South Yorkshire: Grade B
• North East Elsenham, Essex: Grade B
• Pennbury, Leicestershire: Grade B
• Marston Vale, Bedfordshire: Grade B
• Weston Otmoor, Oxfordshire: Grade C
• North West Bicester (Cherwell) – alternative to Weston Otmoor: Grade B
Key
Grade A: generally suitable for an ecotown
Grade B: might be a suitable location subject to meeting specific planning and design objectives
Grade C: location only likely to be suitable as an ecotown with substantial and exceptional innovation
Summary of the responses to the Eco Towns consultation
Rush for Housing causes Dismay
Countryside campaigners, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), expressed dismay today that the Government has gone against the wishes of many in Yorkshire and the Humber by announcing plans for housebuilding on a massive scale.
In The Yorkshire and Humber Plan the Government has decreed that the region must find space for 22,260 new homes each year. This would mean nearly half a million new homes within the next 20 years – astonishingly, almost twice that originally proposed by the Regional Assembly in 2005. This is against the recommendations of an independent panel that a step change in housebuilding should not occur before 2011.
The scale and pace of development proposed has huge implications for the region’s countryside and quality of life. The Plan indicates that the extent of Yorkshire’s Green Belt may need to be reviewed to accommodate the new development.
CPRE recognises the need for new housing, and is at the forefront of groups campaigning strongly for more affordable homes in rural areas. The Government has imposed housing numbers on the region based on unrealistic assumptions about the region’s predicted economic performance. Yet, we cannot simply build our way out of what is essentially an affordability problem. With the growing importance of food security and in an era of future climate change, rather than squander scarce land resources on building ever more homes, the focus should be on providing the affordable homes the region actually needs.
Jenny Haynes, CPRE’s Regional Policy Officer, commented:
‘There is a huge contrast between what the Government says about devolving decision-making to local communities and the clunking fist of centralisation. Such disregard for the views of the region will make many wonder why they bothered to spend so long trying to achieve a consensus on a sensible strategy for Yorkshire and the Humber.’
Eco Challenge
Experts challenge developers to raise their game on eco-towns
Fourteen leading experts will today challenge developers to improve their visions for eco-towns and deliver world class proposals for the first new towns in the UK for 45 years.
The panel of leading figures from the worlds of design, the environment, transport and sustainability, was selected by Housing Minister Caroline Flint to provide expert advice and support to bidders and inject new thinking on how eco-towns could be best delivered in each of the 15 short listed locations.
The Eco-Town Challenge Panel will throw down its challenge to bidders at its first meeting with them today.
Housing Minister Caroline Flint said:
"Only the best bids with the highest environmental standards stand a chance of being selected as an eco town. The Panel will have a vital role in encouraging and inspiring developers to aim as high as possible in each potential location. There are no done deals and I expect bidders to raise their game by taking on board the expert advice available to them, to make the most of this unique opportunity to deliver the affordable, greener homes our first time buyers and young families desperately need."
The panel will address issues such as ensuring house designs are sensitive to local surroundings and create homes people want to live in, using the site's natural resources efficiently, creating a vibrant and healthy community for people of all ages, encouraging more journeys on foot, bicycle and public transport, ensuring the development makes the best use of new technologies, and improving the potential of the area to create jobs and spark an entrepreneur spirit.
The Panel will publish recommendations to each bidder over the comings months on how they could improve their vision for eco-towns. Ministers will make the final decision on locations for eco-town development based on the quality of bids and with reference to the criteria set out in the Eco-town Prospectus .
Up to ten eco-towns will be built by 2020 and Caroline Flint announced a shortlist of fifteen potential locations last month for consultation to give the public their say. Eco-towns will be zero-carbon sustainable developments of between 5,000 and 20,000 homes, which help address the twin challenges of a major shortfall in housing and tackling climate change by cutting the carbon emissions of housing. Proposals will have to demonstrate they meet tough criteria on providing affordable housing, sustainable development including leading edge green technologies, delivering key infrastructure such as good public transport, schools and health facilities, and safeguarding local wildlife. No new homes will be built on Green Belt land and at least 30 per cent of the total new houses will be affordable housing, delivering tens of thousands more homes for those on lower incomes.
The fourteen members of the Eco-Towns Challenge Panel are:
- John Walker (Chair) - Former Chief Executive, British Urban Regeneration Association. Expert in delivery of large mixed use development
- Dr Liz Goodwin - Chief Executive, Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP). Expert in use of natural resources and recycling
- Stephen Hale - Director, Green Alliance. Environment expert
- Sir Peter Hall - President, Town and Country Planning Association. Expert in urban issues, housing and planning
- Wayne Hemingway - Founder, Red or Dead. Expert in design and social issues
- Stephen Joseph - Executive Director, Campaign for Better Transport. Transport expert
- Nick Mabey - Chief Executive, E3G. Expert in energy issues and economic development
- Kris Murrin - TV presenter, expert in sustainable transport and children's issues
- Sunand Prasad - Royal Institute of British Architects President. Expert in design and architecture
- Liz Reason - Director, Reasons to Be Cheerful consultancy. Expert in innovative approaches to energy issues and climate change
- Sue Riddlestone - Director, BioRegional Development Group. Expert in sustainability and sustainable development
- Joanna Yarrow - TV presenter, green-lifestyle specialist and founder of sustainability company Beyond Green
- Richard Simmons - Expert in architecture and the built environment
- Lynda Addison - Managing Director of Addison & Associates. Transport and planning expert.
New Tricks with Old Bricks
26th March 2008
"New Tricks with Old Bricks" is a study from the Empty Homes Agency, which compares the CO2 given off in building new homes and creating new homes through refurbishing old properties. The key findings are:
Reusing empty homes could make an initial saving of 35 tonnes of carbon
dioxide (CO2) per property by removing the need for the energy locked into new
build materials and construction.
Over a 50-year period, this means there almost no difference in the average
emissions of new compared with refurbished housing.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new homes fall into two distinct sources:
“embodied” CO2 given off during the housebuilding process, and “operational”
CO2 given off from normal energy use in the house once it is occupied.
The new homes each gave off 50 tonnes of embodied CO2. The refurbished
homes each gave off 15 tonnes.
Well-insulated new homes eventually make up for their high embodied energy
costs through lower operational CO2 but it takes several decades - in most cases
more than 50 years.
Embodied CO2 is not widely understood but this study shows that it accounts for
28% of CO2 emissions over the first 50 years’ lifetime of a new house.
Embodied CO2 is an investment in the environmental sustainability of a house.
Refurbished old homes have lower embodied CO2 and therefore a distinct head
start over new homes.
Empty homes in England provide an opportunity to create 150,000 new
sustainable homes.
If the rate of VAT on repairs and renovation had been 5% instead of 17.5%, it
would have cut the average cost of refurbishment by approximately £10,000 for
each house.
Many house builders claim that new homes are four times more efficient than
older houses. This study shows that refurbished houses can be as just efficient
as new homes.
The Empty Homes Agency is an independent campaigning charity, which exists to highlight the waste of empty property in England and works with others to devise and promote solutions to bring empty property back into use.
Eco friendly ratings for all new homes
Former Housing Minister, Caroline Flint
The Government's drive towards zero carbon housing took a major step forward today with the announcement that all new homes are to be rated on their green credentials from 1 May.
A rating against the Code for Sustainable Homes, which measures nine categories of sustainable design including energy, water and waste, will be required for all new homes. Homes which exceed the sustainable standards in existing Building Regulations will be awarded up to six stars. Those homes that have not been assessed against the Code will score a nil-rating.
Speaking at the Eco Build 2008 conference today, Housing Minister Caroline Flint said:
"We need to tackle climate change by improving how green and energy efficient our homes are. New build housing will play an important part in this, and we are already committed to all new housing being zero carbon from 2016. These measures are essential in tackling climate change.
"By requiring a rating for all new homes against the Code for Sustainable Homes in the run up to 2016, we are making the standards that different homes reach more transparent and are creating an important incentive for house builders to provide greener, more sustainable homes.
"Providing these ratings will also give buyers valuable information about their home, allowing them to make an informed choice and helping people to reduce their own household carbon emissions."
Welcoming today's announcement Paul King of the UK Green Building Council said:
"The Code for Sustainable Homes will fundamentally change the way we build and buy new homes in this country. Buyers of new homes, for the first time, will see how green their home is - not just on its carbon emissions, but on other vital issues such as water consumption and impact on biodiversity. This will help stimulate the market for green building as consumers demand more sustainable homes that have lower energy bills, are built producing less needless waste and that are great places to live.
"For industry, the Code plays a crucial role setting the trajectory towards the target of all new homes emitting zero carbon from 2016. This goal has brought about a fundamental change in mindset, galvanising the construction sector and is already producing really innovative design. We still have challenges to overcome to bring sustainable homes genuinely into the mainstream, not least in the existing stock, but this represents a vitally important step and one for which Government should be congratulated."
Ashley Jones of Bramall Construction who have built homes to Code level 4 said:
"Bramall Construction is committed to building sustainable housing and is proud to have built the first saleable homes to the Sustainable Code Level 4 standard. We have a number of additional projects in the pipeline that will also be built to the Code. We fully support the work that Communities and Local Government are doing and hope to continue working with them."
The Code for Sustainable Homes is the national standard for the sustainable design and construction of new homes. It measures the sustainability of a new home against nine categories of sustainable design including energy, water and waste, and will provide buyers and developers will have a common standard on sustainability to inform homes that they buy and build respectively. The Code is part of a package of measures aimed at improving the sustainability of new homes, which includes:
- Major progressive tightening of the minimum energy performance standards in building regulations - by 25 per cent in 2010 and by 44 per cent in 2013 - up to the zero carbon target in 2016. This will improve the energy performance of all new homes, and encourage the use of energy from renewable sources.
- Introducing new minimum standards in Building Regulations to make new homes more water-efficient - it is estimated that by installing low flush toilets and more water efficient taps in new homes we could reduce household consumption by up to 20 per cent.
- The Planning Policy Statement on Climate Change, which puts climate change at the heart of the planning system - by ensuring that new communities are located and designed in a way which reduces the need to travel and makes best use of low carbon and renewable energy. The PPS will apply to all development, not just homes and makes clear references to the Code for Sustainable Homes.
- The stamp duty exemption for zero carbon homes, which came into effect on 1 October 2007 for houses will act as a further incentive for developers to build zero carbon homes.
Additionally, every home being bought and sold already needs an Energy Performance Certificate to show buyers how energy efficient it is.
The government is committed to continuing to monitor uptake against the Code and ensuring all those building new homes are both aware of the requirement to provide a Code rating to buyers and encourage them to build Code homes. To meet the initial demand for assessments the government has ensured that there are already enough trained and licensed Code assessors, and more will be trained in the coming months.
Ratings will apply to those homes being newly designed and built from May 2008, specifically when the builder reaches the stage of submitting a building notice, a full plans application or an initial notice for the purposes of building regulations after 1 April 2008. This will mean that builders can choose now to design and build to the Code and give themselves time to do so, rather than opting for a nil rating.
Uptake of the Code is being supported by our commitment that all Government-funded new homes will be built to Code level 3 and the Stamp Duty Land Tax exemption for zero carbon homes. At least one major developer has already stated that all their new homes will be reach a 3 star rating against the Code whilst others are demonstrating that they can obtain a six star rating such as the development at the Carbon Challenge site at Hanham Hall in Bristol. See: www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/carbonchallenge.htm (external link) for further information.
Want a home? Get a Job
David Orr Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation
19th February 2008
New Housing Minister Caroline Flint has shaken the housing world and infuriated some tenants' groups with her first major speech to the Fabian society, in which she proposed that tenants of social housing could lose their homes if they do not find work. Critics question why tenants of social housing are being singled out for this treatment, and not tenants of privately rented accommodation or owner occupiers, and say that it is government policy to sell off council homes that has left a residualised welfare role for social housing, in the process concentrating people who often suffer mulitple deprivation and greatest need, due to the process of rationing this diminished resource.
Caroline Flint used Foyers as an example of support that includes an element of conditionality. In Foyers young people are given accommodation on the basis that they abide by the rules and undertake training for vocational qualifications. David Orr Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation comments:
"Flint's central proposal, that "people in social housing, including those on council estates, should be expected to actively seek work as a condition of their tenancy", is unfair, unwise and unworkable. Threatening to make people homeless as well as jobless is counterproductive. If residents were unable to "prove" they were seeking work, they could be forced into insecure, overcrowded private rented accommodation many times more costly to the taxpayer.
Flint says that "despite the current slowdown in prices the plans to build n extra 3m homes by 2020 were not in jeopardy". I welcome this news, as this huge programme offers the government the chance to work with housing associations to ensure that among those who benefit are social housing residents, who could be taught new skills and employed. This would create opportunities rather than penalise those without them.
Flint referred to tenants on "council estates" and not those in "housing association neighbourhoods". This is interesting as housing associations house as many as councils, but are independent; this enables them to work more flexibly with local people. "
First eco-village announced
Housing and Planning Minister Caroline Flint has announced details of the housebuilder who will build England's first eco-village.
Barratt Developments PLC has been selected by English Partnerships, the Government's National Regeneration Agency, as the preferred developer to create a new community at the site of the former Hanham Hall Hospital near Bristol. Homes on the site will meet the Government's most exacting eco standard - Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Hanham Hall was the first site identified under the Carbon Challenge, being run by English Partnerships as part of the Government's commitment to tackle climate change. The Challenge will deliver zero carbon homes and communities well in advance of this becoming mandatory 2016, and help the housebuilding sector demonstrate that the targets are feasible and can be commercially viable.
As well as zero-carbon homes this ground-breaking project will create eco lifestyles. It will hand over a listed building to community use, capture rainwater and include sustainable drainage, farmers' shops, a car club and bicycle storage.
Flint said:
"We have set a world-beating target that all new homes must be zero carbon by 2016. People said this couldn't be done, but, in fact, this first Carbon Challenge site shows that developers are already preparing to build the first major development of zero carbon homes.
"We want to build more homes but also to higher standards. We've set up plans for ten eco-towns. These Carbon Challenge eco-villages are now leading the way, showing what can be done. This marks a revolution in the way we design and build homes."
Steve Carr, English Partnerships' Director of Policy and Economics, said:
"The winning bid isn't just environmentally sound - it brings people into the equation to create a truly sustainable community.
"We are meeting a dual goal - tackling climate change whilst improving housing quality. I am delighted that so many developers rose to the challenge. The winning bid by Barratt tipped the balance because they thought about eco-living not just eco-buildings."
Mark Clare, Chief Executive, Barratt Developments PLC said:
"Barratt fully supports the zero carbon objective and we want to make as big a contribution as we can as quickly as we can. We are delighted to be asked to deliver this ground-breaking project, which will be the first large-scale zero carbon community in the country. It will enable a family occupying one of these homes to reduce their entire carbon footprint by 60 per cent."
Hanham Hall is a 6.6 hectare former hospital site near Bristol, incorporating a Grade II listed building. It is anticipated that the site will support up to 200 homes, of which at least a third will be affordable, as well as retail floor space and employment space. The onsite biomass CHP plant will deliver energy to all homes.
Radical change needed
to avert climate change
Housing providers will have to make radical changes to existing housing stock if they are to cope with the realities of climate change in the next few decades, according to a new report.
The report was released this week at the Chartered Institute of Housing's east of England conference by Colin Wiles, chief executive of King Street Housing Society.
In it Mr Wiles said that many areas in the region were at particular risk from climate change. In addition to better coastal defences and building on land away from the sea, housing providers should consider setting land aside for flood management.
He said they should also look at building homes on stilts or consider some areas for canal streets, such as those in Venice. Existing homes near coastal areas would need to be considered for 'disposal, reshaping or redevelopment in the long term'.
'The eastern region is particularly at risk [from climate change],' the report said. 'The coastline is weak and the region contains many low-lying areas.'
This should influence investment decisions away from growth sites close to sea level which 'could be inundated within 60 years'.
Homes should also be 'climate-proofed' although Mr Wiles said few incentives existed for developers to put in measures to adapt to climate changes.
But the report also argued that the government's house building targets were unlikely to be achieved by protecting green belt land from development.
'This is where we face a fight with the countryside lobby,' it added.
Inside Housing 24/11/07
Keep it natural
Link to a Feature on natural materials as a system for sustainable building by David Kitching of Natural Deco Ltd. 6th August 2006
Wasteful homes 'risk eco-targets' |