News article 28/09/2012

(Issued 28 September 2012) 
 

Common sense must prevail with regards the timing and development of a sustainable housing strategy in such a fragile economy.

That is the warning from Homes for Scotland today in its response to the Scottish Government’s consultation document “Homes That Don’t Cost The Earth”.

The organisation’s call comes at a time when total housing output in Scotland has fallen more than 40% since the downturn and is currently languishing at its lowest levels since the Second World War - despite Scotland’s population being at its highest ever level and new households projected to form at an annual rate of more than 21,000 over the coming years.

Chief Executive Philip Hogg said:

“Clearly the Scottish Government’s aim of bringing together its policies on climate change, energy efficiency, fuel poverty, planning and the built environment is laudable, but it must adopt a flexible, realistic approach reflecting market conditions to avoid further damaging the supply of desperately needed new homes.

“It is a fact that green homes are way down the list of most people’s spending priorities, whether in relation to purchasing a new home or upgrading an existing property.

“That is why we are proposing that the Scottish Government encourage positive behaviour change by linking the green agenda to financial incentives such as using its forthcoming new powers to tie stamp duty rates to a property’s energy efficiency. Local authorities could also use council tax discounts as another possible method of reward.

“The stark reality is that until a greater proportion of the public start demanding energy efficient homes, the value of investments made to reduce carbon output will never be realised.

“Our industry is also an easy target for new regulation, but new homes built today are already 70% more energy efficient than 1990 levels. It is therefore the emissions of existing housing stock which must be tackled.

“The Scottish Government must evaluate the net impact of its proposed changes to Building Standards. It needs to consider whether imposing such extra burdens on a still struggling industry whilst achieving very little in the way of carbon savings at the expense of more effective and cost-efficient solutions, such as our retrofit proposals, really represent the best way forward.”

Click here to read Homes for Scotland's full consultation response.