Carbon Emissions

Lord Redesdale Excerpts

Thursday 16th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

The noble Baroness has a point to the extent that there have been some concerns that you could seal a house too much, and research into that is currently going on. That is perhaps part of the reason why it is right not just to plough ahead with schemes without thinking through them, and we are therefore taking this pause, which is the right thing to do.

[Lord Redesdale (LD)]

My Lords, the Minister said that this is a tax on the building industry, but is it not a fuel poverty issue? If a development goes ahead with affordable housing which is less carbon efficient and therefore costs a great deal more in fuel bills, is not the developer making a greater profit and do not those on the lower end of the social scale, in terms of their ability to pay for the fuel, have to pay over the longer term a great deal more in their energy bills?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

I draw the noble Lord’s attention to our record over the last five years in making buildings more efficient. Homes and non-domestic buildings built to the latest building regulation requirements are already very energy efficient, so that plays into the affordable homes argument.