Wednesday 2 April 2008

Simon McWhirter, WWF-UK Homes Campaign Manager said: "WWF welcomes any initiative that will further public understanding of the impact our homes have on the environment. The Green Homes Service will be a valuable resource in facilitating wider understanding and take up of home energy efficiency, water use, and waste reduction measures, and we hope that the Government continues to invest significant funds to ensure as many homeowners as possible can benefit from its services and grants."

"However, there still remains a huge gap in the provision of financial incentives and support to enable homeowners to install these measures, and as such we hope the Government will see the Green Homes Service as the first step in improving the footprint of our homes, recognising that there is a great deal more they need to provide in terms of policies, incentives, and support mechanisms," he explained.

UK falls behind Europe
A report published by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee today further reiterates the need to tackle the environmental impact of the UK's 25 million-plus existing homes. It warns that the Government is falling behind other European countries when it comes to tackling the efficiency of our existing stock and recommends a shift in policy that will see a much greater focus on reducing carbon emissions from our existing homes.

Simon McWhirter added: "The findings from the Committee report reinforce WWF-UK's concern that the Government's current homes policy will not put it on track to meet its own climate change targets. Our How Low? report proves it is feasible to go further and reduce emissions from the UK's existing housing stock by up to 80% by 2050 with the right policies, incentives, and support mechanisms. WWF welcomes the proposals for stamp duty relief, smart meters, and the abolition of the VAT anomaly which makes it cheaper to demolish a building than refurbish it to a higher standard. However, realistically we need to go much further, faster with the reform of the energy supply market and a much wider range of financial incentives."

WWF released a new report this week on sustainable housing, called How Low?.