Agenda item

To review an update to the Growth Board on zero carbon housing technology and wider opportunities for Oxfordshire.

The Panel considered a report to the Growth Board presented by Caroline Green, Assistant Chief Executive Oxford City Council, which set out emerging best practice and challenges faced by local authorities in promoting and encouraging net-zero carbon housing development.

The Panel was informed that the report had been informed by discussions at the Housing Advisory Sub-Group which had identified that the journey to Zero Carbon housing was a key priority for Oxfordshire authorities and nationally.

Expert advice on climate change indicated that meeting the challenges of delivering zero carbon housing would be key to meeting HM Government’s legal commitments on achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Systemic barriers to the upscaling of zero carbon housing existed, but there were also genuine policy development opportunities available for Oxfordshire as set out in the report.

The Panel was informed that the report’s recommendations had been drafted flexibly to allow for a potential programme of work to be developed by officers over time.

The Chair and Panel thanked Caroline Green for an important and informative report. In its discussion about the issues raised, the Panel commented and noted that:

·           Higher design standards were welcomed as a possible objective of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 with policies to support the delivery of the energy strategy, (para 39.d). The Panel was reminded that the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 would require individual approval by each of the district local planning authorities.  It would be a matter for each local planning authority to come to a judgement on what issues, (such as design standards) they were comfortable with for the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 to cover versus what would be coved in their local plans. There would be an advantage in potentially having common standards across Oxfordshire which provide scope to be more adventurous.

·           The best way to achieve high building standards would be through changes to national building regulations rather than through local plans, but it was argued that the regulations had not kept pace with the environmental standards local authorities aspired to. Many local authorities had sought to bridge this gap through local planning policies, but these needed to be tested. An advantage of an Oxfordshire Plan 2050 approach to zero carbon was that it could represent the next best opportunity to put in place a policy with real planning weight. More work was required, and it would require consensus across the Oxfordshire local authorities.

·           A concern that the Government’s consultation on the Future Homes Standards could remove discretion from local authorities to set higher standards.

·           In addition to long-term national climate change targets, it was important for HM Government to put in place short and medium-term targets as staging points by which progress could be monitored.

·           Significant financial investment through incentives and leadership would be required from HM Government to support the measures required to achieve zero carbon housing, particularly regarding the significant cost of retrofitting existing housing stock. This made it particularly important to move to a zero-carbon standard as soon as possible for new housing, both in its operation and construction.

·           It was felt that the Growth Board did have an important role to play in seeking to encourage and coordinate joint action on zero carbon housing across Oxfordshire and in lobbying HM Government, potentially through the Oxford to Cambridge Arc.

·           Encouragement of modern methods of construction was required, including from mortgage lenders as it could be difficult for borrowers to obtain finance for non-traditional building methods.

·           It would be necessary to scale up from current early demonstrator zero carbon projects although there was evidence that it was possible to do so.

·           There were issues around the capacity of firms to upscale zero carbon housing capacity and the sharing of skills and technologies.

·           It was noted that zero carbon homes had not yet commanded a premium in the housing market to outweigh the current additional costs for most developments.

·           It was important to ensure that new measures designed to encourage zero carbon housing did not contradict existing planning requirements.

After further discussion, the Panel welcomed the report and agreed that recommendations should be drafted based on its discussion at the Chair’s discretion.

RESOLVED:

1.      That the Growth Board encourage Government to put in place a series of phased incremental 5-year targets to reduce carbon emissions from new and existing homes to achieve Net Zero Carbon emissions by 2050. This could be an effective measure to increase the focus on realistic delivery towards this target.

2.      That in view of the Government’s target to reduce carbon emissions by 2050, the Growth Board recognise the significant need for a national household retrofitting programme in addition to ensuring current developments are inexpensive to retrofit. Furthermore, make the case to Government for investment support.

3.      That the Growth Board recognise the higher than average purchase price for modular build and zero carbon housing built by modern methods, setting out to Government the need for more accessible mortgage products.