The Reader: The battle for greener housing is raging on

Did you know that homes built in the UK today require three to eight times more energy to heat than energy-efficient homes like Passivhaus (a voluntary standard for energy efficiency which reduces the building’s ecological footprint)?

Given the climate emergency you’d think the Government would want to improve house building standards. But no. Their proposed Future Homes Standard recommends that energy efficiency targets be scrapped.

This means homes built in the future could use even more energy than homes built today. Fortunately we have cities like London which have been demanding better energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions through planning. But, oh no — under the same plan, ministers want to strip the planning authorities of these powers and force everyone to be as bad as the national standards. Are they not aware of the UK’s legal commitment to achieve carbon zero by 2050? If this bothers you, respond to the Government’s consultation by 10 January.
Antonia Khayatt​, Nicholas Hare Architects LLP

Editor's reply

Dear Antonia

The scale of the coming revolution in housebuilding has not had the attention it deserves. For example, the Government’s Future Homes Standard, currently out for consultation, will ban new homes from being heated by gas boilers in just six years time.

You raise an important point about ministers’ reluctance to press for tougher energy-efficiency building standards immediately. But the Government is under intense pressure. It must balance the need for huge and rapid reductions in carbon emissions from homes, with demands for a massive increase in housebuilding to address a housing crisis. London is crying out for more homes for its growing population, but also needs cleaner, greener ones.

Whatever the legal requirement eventually is, we must make the best use of technology and innovation to keep the environmental impact of those homes to a minimum.
Jonathan Prynn, Consumer Affairs Editor

Vote Tory to boost British business​

We are all female entrepreneurs and businesswomen, some of whom voted to remain in the EU. However, we are all of the opinion that we must respect the referendum result and that Brexit needs to be done.

The fact that there is a deal on the table with the Conservatives that is ready to go is a huge advantage. Indecision is the enemy of economic success and for business it causes paralysis. This Brexit indecision threatens success.

The UK is the best place to start and grow a business. There is so much opportunity and the UK leads in so many sectors. Business is also the engine of the economy, and a low tax, positive environment with few distractions and minimal regulation is what grows businesses and employs more people, and as a consequence increases tax revenues. Importantly, this in turn protects the most vulnerable in our society.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour would increase taxes and stifle business — damaging Britain’s competitiveness and entrepreneurial activity — while also subjecting the country to more uncertainty and delay with another two referendums. And voting Lib Dem is just another vote for Labour.

This is why we have come together to urge people to vote Conservative this Thursday to end the uncertainty, put Brexit behind us and move on to a positive new chapter.

The case for a hung Parliament​

I cannot agree with Clarissa Agnew’s letter, or the Editor’s reply, stating that Tory Remainers must stick with the Conservatives in this election and should not vote Lib Dem because they “might let in Labour” [The Reader, December 9].

Firstly, it is clear from the polls that the best Labour can hope for is a hung Parliament, and even that seems unlikely. While I agree that Jeremy Corbyn is utterly unfit to be Prime Minister, he would not be able to pursue any of his more extreme policies in a minority or coalition.

Secondly, Corbyn is not the only unsuitable candidate for prime minister in this election. Boris Johnson has demonstrated that he too does not deserve to be PM, and not just because of Brexit.

A vote for the Lib Dems increases the chances of a hung Parliament, not of a Labour majority, and a hung Parliament is the least bad possible outcome. It would limit the ability of either party to damage this country, whether through Jeremy Corbyn’s extreme form of socialism or Boris Johnson’s plans for a hard Brexit.
Tom Balfour