Wed planning reform to climate action, urges UKGBC

Labour needs to wed its proposed planning reform to the Climate Change Act if it wants to head off a “quagmire of uncertainty, delays and hostility”. That was the conclusion of the UK Green Building Council in a new report assessing the Labour government on its first 100 days in power. The report reveals how UKGBC believes Labour can turn the big decisions ahead on new developments, upgrading the country’s cold, damp homes and renewing high streets into a legacy that puts the UK on track to tackle the climate, nature and cost-of-living crises. UKGBC deputy chief executive Simon McWhirter said: “100 days in, and the pivotal decisions about the future of our built environment still lie ahead. Small policy and investment adjustments won’t be enough. From fixing the planning system and new build standards to upgrading the country’s draughty homes and workplaces, success or failure, public support or opposition, will rest on bold decisions in line with the climate science.” He added: “With a new Net Zero Buildings Strategy confirmed for after the comprehensive spending review concludes in the spring, the government should feel emboldened to be ambitious. It will have the backing of a large swathe of the built environment industry – from the banks, large estate owners, housebuilders and manufacturers to innovative start-ups, universities and many local councils that we bring together in our membership. “With a new approach to partnership with industry, the government can harness a huge array of skills, experience, investment and innovation. It can avoid repeating past policy failures and take inspiration from cutting-edge progress in British industry and around the world where improvements in towns and cities, homes and workplaces, are rapidly improving lives and reducing their pressure on the desperately fragile climate and natural world.” The 37-page report tracks every announcement and commitment about the built environment and analyses it to indicate whether the country is on track to meet climate, nature and cost-of-living commitments and to make recommendations about the pivotal decisions ahead. The UKGBC has scored the new government against 18 of its policy recommendations on a one-four rating, with four being brilliant. Making sure that nature and climate were placed at the centre of planning scored two out of four, with points awarded for the speedy consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework. However, the UKGBC said modernising the NPPF would not be enough if we want to ensure all developments deliver on nature and climate goals and that a clear national legal priority needed to be established. Other recommendations that scored a two included mandating that developers measure and report whole-life carbon emissions, introducing regulation to protect and restore nature and to deliver a strategy to upgrade homes to meet environmental standards. Policy recommendations that failed to score any points included modernising the Landlord & Tenant Act to require businesses to include green lease clauses in any new lease contracts and the establishment of a home retrofit strategy. The new government also scored poorly on prioritising nature-based solutions within the planning system to increase the quality and quantity of green space, improving urban tree cover and raising the energy performance standards of commercial buildings. Alongside an EPC rating of B as a minimum, the UKGBC wants to see an energy in use performance-based rating system mandated to ensure installations of efficiency and low-carbon heating measures are effective. “The tone and early actions of this government are streets ahead of the last on climate issues but there is still a massive hill to climb and decisions are on a knife edge over planning reform and standards for new buildings,” said McWhirter. He added: “The stakes are high. The government could see a nationwide backlash to its big plans for new development unless every decision helps, not hinders, efforts to tackle the climate and nature emergencies as well as the cost-of-living crisis. That means delivering what they voted for in opposition, putting pen to paper and wedding the planning system to the Climate Change Act in law when it drafts the much-awaited Planning and Infrastructure Bill. “Get it right and we could see a new era of clean electricity, affordable low-carbon homes where they’re needed, and large areas to protect and restore nature,” McWhirter said. “Get it wrong and we could destroy what’s left of the country’s natural habitats, exceed our legally binding carbon budgets, and risk further planning confusion, legal challenges and higher costs.”  Find out more about the new Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard and how commercial real estate is rising to the challenges and opportunities presented by climate change at EG’s ESG Summit on 5 November. Find out more and secure your ticket at www.eg.co.uk/eg-events/esg-summit-2024 Image © Lily Banse/Unsplash