Don't Let Deregulation be an Opportunity Lost for UK Housing Stock
Back in August, Associate Director Craig Smith wrote a piece on the future of zero-carbon homes, in which he expressed concern that the modified definition of ‘zero carbon’ had become so lax as to be hindering progress rather than encouraging it.
9th November 2012 | Peter Rolton: Chairman, Rolton Group
At the end of October, still more apprehension surfaced as the Department for Communities and Local Government publicly voiced its support for deregulation of the construction industry in an effort to reverse its 2.5% contraction in the last quarter.
Many different measures for sustainable domestic builds have been proposed in recent years as successive Governments attempt to find viable and affordable methods by which our 2016 target for all new homes to be zero carbon may be met. The original Code for Sustainable Homes gave way to the less stringent Carbon Compliance and Allowable Solutions, though the end goal remained the same: completely carbon neutral homes, whether independently achieved or created through retrospective action taken to nullify excess carbon in other locations. What makes the idea so appealing is that it thusly obliges the industry to improve energy saving measures in the older housing stock when creating new, sustainable builds.
Other suggestions, such as the Eco Towns which first were proposed in July 2007 by the then-incumbent Labour Government, were envisaged to bring the UK up to date with the 21st century standard of new builds. With the exception of one site still in planning, however, the initiative has all but fallen silent as emphasis increasingly shifts from creating a future-proof housing stock to getting the job done as quickly and cheaply as possible.
The latest offering from Government continues on this downwards trajectory of standards; the Housing Standards Review has been given power to ‘cut the red tape’ by calling into question anything it regards as slowing industry progress. It will report its findings in spring 2012, and, unfortunately, many of the recommendations for properly implemented sustainability are likely to be singled out for scrutiny, as they demand more than simply thrown together as fast as possible.
Whilst some of the legislative restrictions currently in place undoubtedly need addressing, we appear to once more be caught in the throes of a government whose only concern is short term growth, not enduring quality. By removing regulation from the industry, the floodgates are open to a lowering of standards as the inevitable attraction towards greatest profit and lowest cost margins starts to pull. Where the UK was once concerned with improving quality, it now appears to have fallen back down the slope to bandaid solutions.
Regulation is absolutely crucial to ensure the lasting quality of new builds, and in spite of the assertion found in the Review’s Terms of Reference, that the goal is ‘to achieve tangible deregulation… to enable quality and sustainable housing developments to be brought forward more easily,’ fears remain that the members of the panel may determine that high standards of sustainability are currently more of a burden on the industry than something to be upheld. Paul King, CEO of the UK Green Building Council, wrote of the organization’s concern ‘that this self-proclaimed “radical and fundamental review of the entire framework of building regulations” will create considerable uncertainty that is more likely to slow down housing delivery than speed it up.’
It may be sceptical to assume that the Review will allow for such potentially damaging changes to make it into the rule book, but history speaks for itself; should the Allowable Solutions initiative be scrapped, the opportunity it presents for old to be improved along with new will be lost. Giving such a small committee the power to strike through legislation which has been specifically implemented to ensure quality and endurance could spell disaster rather than expansion for the construction sector and beyond.
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