Gas boilers in new homes will be banned as soon as next year and they will be required to have heat pumps and solar panels under plans being spearheaded by Ed Miliband and Angela Rayner. The Telegraph has more.
The Energy and Housing Secretaries have joined forces on new rules for housebuilders, which will require newbuilds to have heat pumps and solar panels.
The Telegraph understands the new rules will be announced by Ms Rayner this summer, and are likely to be in force by next year.
The fight for Net Zero is at the heart of a growing row engulfing Labour, exposed this week by Sir Tony Blair who warned Sir Keir Starmer that his current green policies were “doomed to fail”.
Despite Labour MPs and unions urging Sir Keir to change course on Net Zero, Mr Miliband and Ms Rayner will drive their radical reforms forward this year.
The Cabinet Ministers have been working together on Net Zero requirements in the Future Homes Standard, a change to building regulations first proposed by the Conservatives in 2019.
Insiders said the pair had opted for the most “ambitious” version of the new rules, which would ban gas boilers as fast as possible in new homes by increasing the energy efficiency requirements on developers.
But housebuilders have warned that onerous new Net Zero requirements could increase costs, making it less likely that Ms Rayner will meet her target of building 1.5 million homes by the end of Labour’s first term.
Industry sources said the boiler ban had been expected to come into force in 2027, after a 12-month period for the legislation to take effect and a further year to implement the changes.
Government sources now say the rules could take effect as soon as early 2026, giving the industry as little as six months to prepare.
Mr Miliband and Ms Rayner’s new rules will also require solar panels on almost all newbuilds, adding up to £4,000 to the cost of the properties.
That plan, first floated in a Conservative-era public consultation, comes despite pressure from the housebuilding sector to make solar panels optional.
The latest report from Britain’s fiscal watchdog estimated that Labour will fall 200,000 homes short of its 1.5 million target, even without the changes to building regulations.
On Thursday, Downing Street insisted the changes would not make it harder to hit the target.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.