New regulations will increase the cost of new homes
September 1, 2009
New government regulations on energy efficiency come into operation next spring and according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF) this will lead to a rise in the price of new houses.
The HBF estimates that the regulations will add an average of £7,000 to the price of every new build. However the pressures on builders and buyers are set to increase as the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes has set even more stringent targets to be in place by 2016. Some estimate that by then the rise in price of a new home could hit £30,000.
Research by National Energy Services suggests that the increase in cost of a new home would be offset by the savings owners would then make on energy bills. New homes are around six times more energy efficient than older ones and National Energy Services estimates that this is already saving homeowners £556 per year.
CEO of Bovis Homes, David Ritchie said: “The next set of government regulations will add a cost burden of between £4,000 and £6,000 on to the cost of building a home. Code level 3 [the Government’s new standard] will represent a significant improvement to energy efficiency and we can deliver it, but this then has a cost to buyers.”
Some industry sources say that although it’s a great idea to produce housing that will reduce emissions the economic downturn has had such an effect that the Governments 2016 deadline “now looks impossible.”
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