Former building regulations minister Andrew Stunell blames Treasury for delayed introduction of zero carbon homes
Former building regulations minister Andrew Stunell has blamed the Treasury鈥檚 鈥渂linkered view鈥� of zero carbon homes for delaying the introduction of the policy.
Although the introduction of the zero carbon homes standard in 2016 had been a policy of the coalition government since it was formed in 2010, legislation to bring it into force was not announced until last week鈥檚 Queen鈥檚 Speech.
Sources said the government also now plans to exempt small developments from the standard, further weakening the policy.
, Stunell said that Treasury opposition, which saw zero carbon 鈥渁s a zero sum game鈥�, had been behind the delay.
He said: 鈥淸Treasury thinks] you can have more houses or better houses, but the market can鈥檛 deliver both. And seeing we all agree not enough homes are being built, they didn鈥檛 want to risk cutting supply by improving standards.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much wrong with that it is hard to know where to start.鈥�
He also took a swipe at housebuilders whom he said had 鈥渟ucked their teeth and asked for reviews鈥� for helping to delay the policy鈥檚 introduction.
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