New Zero Carbon Housing Standards in London

Despite the government’s decision to abandon nationwide zero carbon policies as part of its efforts to ‘speed-up’ house-building, the GLA has pressed ahead and introduced new targets in London.

As of 1 October 2016, the London Plan requires all new housing schemes in the capital with more than 10 homes to meet ‘zero carbon’ standards. This means that all major residential developments will need to achieve at least a 35% reduction in C02 emissions (beyond Part L Building Regulations 2013) on site.

Under Policy 5.2 of the London Plan, major developments (both residential and commercial) have had to comply with challenging C02 targets over and above those of Building Regulations since 2010. The key difference now is that residential developers are expected to pay a cash in lieu contribution into a ‘carbon offset fund’ to offset any remaining carbon emissions, to 100 per cent.

Achieving such strict carbon emission targets on high density residential sites in London will be a significant challenge for most developers. Indeed, with the offset price set at £60 per tonne for a period of 30 years (although this price can vary between London Boroughs), the financial implications of having to offset any deficit could potentially be substantial, and may impact on the overall viability of a scheme.

With these new targets now in place across London, giving due consideration to their implications at an early stage in the planning and design process could potentially save considerable costs in long run. If you have any queries regarding the zero carbon standards for residential developments, or indeed the requirements for non-residential schemes, please feel free to contact one of the Firstplan team.