CCC Housing Report Sparks Industry Response

A UK HOUSING report published today (21 February) by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and its Adaptation Committee has sparked a response from the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC).

Titled ‘UK Housing: Fit for the Future?’, the report assesses whether the UK’s housing stock is adequately prepared for the challenges of climate change; both in terms of reducing emissions from UK homes and ensuring homes are adequately prepared for the impacts of climate change.

CCC Housing Report

The report found:

• The UK’s climate change targets will not be met without the near-complete elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from UK buildings.
• Emission reductions from the UK’s 29 million homes have stalled, while energy use in homes – which accounts for 14% of total UK emissions – increased between 2016 and 2017.
• Efforts to adapt the UK’s housing stock to the impacts of the changing climate: for higher average temperatures, flooding and water scarcity, are lagging far behind what is needed to keep us safe and comfortable, even as these climate change risks grow.

Cleaner, Greener, Smarter

John Alker, Director of Policy & Places at UKGBC

John Alker, Director of Policy and Places at UKGBC said:“We welcome the CCC’s wide-ranging report which looks unflinchingly at the breadth and depth of the challenge we face in decarbonising UK homes. With the Government rightly intent on delivering more and more properties to address the housing crisis, these homes must be delivered to high environmental standards.

“We must start by not making the problem worse, which is why UKGBC is calling for an urgent step-change in the energy performance of our homes, and all new buildings to be net zero carbon by 2030.

“But 80% of the buildings we will use in 2050 have already been built, so we must also urgently address the state of the existing housing stock in the UK, which is one of the draughtiest in Europe.

“We echo the CCC’s calls to make the 29 million existing homes across the UK low-carbon, low-energy and resilient to a changing climate by making the retrofitting of existing homes a national infrastructure priority and bringing forward financial incentives to drive retrofit.

“This year will see the long-awaited review of Building Regulations and the publication of a Government action plan for home energy efficiency. These are both key opportunities to respond to the climate challenge with robust regulations and targeted investment that drives up standards and delivers better quality homes for people across the UK.

“We need to move beyond incremental change, and rapidly speed up the transition to a housing stock that is cleaner, greener, smarter and future-proofed.”

Read the full report here. 

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