BASE HEADER

No

ID sylw: 108576

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Corbally Group (Harbury) Ltd

Asiant : Pegasus Group

This policy stipulates that new buildings should be designed and built to be net zero, which exceeds the requirements in the Building Regulations. The Government’s response to the Future Homes Standard (FHS) consultation in 2023 stated that any policy should not be prescriptive on methodology and technology and that until there is an upgrade to the grid, developers only need to demonstrate dwellings are zero carbon enabled.

Therefore, the Government do not expect plan-makers to set local efficiency standards for buildings that go beyond current or planned Building Regulations, and nor do existing standards have to be duplicated in planning policies. Crucially, here, the Councils do not have a well-reasoned and robustly costed rationale to justify a sound policy, with no viability assessment having been undertaken, and until then, this policy is unsound.

It is also important to note that the achievement of net zero is unlikely to be feasible for all developments. This is particularly the case in urban brownfield developments. The policy should accordingly be flexible/deferential to changes in national standards.