In a previous blog on housebuilding, we touched on the UK’s plan to “build back better” from the pandemic, and what Scotland’s ambitious net-zero targets might mean for the housebuilding sector.

Since then, the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2021-2022 has been announced and agreed, and the Chancellor’s UK Budget has been presented to Parliament.

So did these contain any ground-breaking announcements ready to transform the development and construction of new build housing developments to ensure significant progress towards net zero?

The answer is no, not really. Indeed from the perspective of the UK Government, the 2021 budget actually made less reference to the terms “climate” and “net zero” than the year before.

It’s clear that the immediate focus has been dealing with the impact of Covid-19, and of course there has been the small matter of the UK having now officially left the EU. That said, clean energy, the climate emergency and building back greener remain a priority, and that is particularly the case with the aims of the Scottish Government.

The budget announcements do cover some relevant aspects, such as an increase in spending on measures to reduce fuel poverty and improve energy efficiency and an additional £40 million to support the green recovery (including £10 million for energy efficiency).

The Programme for Government and recent Climate Change Plan update outlined a £2 billion Low Carbon Fund over the next Parliament – central to which is said to be investment of almost £1.6 billion in heat and energy efficiency in our homes and buildings.

In that regard there has been a very recent consultation on a new build heat standard for Scotland, which closed at the beginning of March (this is part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring that, from 2024, new buildings must use heating systems which produce zero direct emissions at the point of use).

Once responses are reviewed, the intention is to develop this proposed Standard and a Technical Consultation Paper in the course of this year.

Generally the response to the principle has been a positive one and the Scottish Government are being applauded for making this commitment and looking to take steps to implementing it.

Critical to achieving this will be development of framework and regulation and appropriate levels of incentive to encourage use – which is a familiar story to what we see across various other areas with potential to help in delivering the nation’s net zero ambitions.

In a similar vein, my colleague Kathleen McAnea recently attended a SDI / Scottish Government “Race to Zero” conference at which there was some very interesting discussion around the desire of housebuilders to commit to incorporating energy efficient / low carbon installations in their developments.

While none went as far as the fantastic Dutch integrated “vertical forest” project in a social housing development in Eindhoven, there was evidence of real commitment by some housebuilders to innovate and a desire to be leaders of the sector’s net zero charge.

There was concern however - despite the recent announcement of the Housing to 2040 Vision and zero emission housing by 2026 - that Registered Social Landlords may not be able to seize the opportunities to incorporate energy efficient/low carbon installations if there is insufficient Government financial support to allow them to do so.

As a firm with a strong and active clean energy practice we are certainly seeing increased interest and action across a wide range of sectors as a result of an increased focus on things like climate change and ESG.

More organisations are taking a greater responsibility due to a mix of shareholder requirements, consumer pressure as well as a desire to move into new areas / progress new technologies or practices and be at the forefront of development given the direction of travel all seems to be going the same way.

So far as the housebuilding sector is concerned, evidence of progress being made can definitely be seen, with measures implemented across a number of developments (e.g. incorporation of solar roof tiles, ground source heating, innovation in design by architects and increased use of newer, smarter technology).

For things to be taken to the next level there is a clear Government role to implement the right blend of regulations and requirements against incentives and support to help appropriate measures to be delivered.

We are watching with interest, and our energy team would be delighted to discuss where you see things going next, and what aspects of the energy transition / drive to net zero are of particular interest in your development plans.

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