During the past eight years of Tory rule, housebuilders as well as property developers in the UK have reaped billions of pounds in benefits due to delays in implementing low-carbon building standards. Interestingly, the sector has also emerged as one of the largest contributors to donations to the Conservative Party.
The delays have resulted in significant financial burdens for homeowners and taxpayers, as they will now have to pay tens of billions of pounds to ensure that newly constructed homes meet low-carbon norms. Additionally, these delays have caused unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions to continue for years, leading to increased energy bills for residents.
An exclusive analysis conducted by The Guardian reveals that since 2010, the Conservative Party has received donations from property developers, real estate tycoons, as well as people associated with the construction industry, amounting to at least 10% of their total donations.
The government plans to introduce further postponements to green regulations. This decision comes after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, recently announced the cancellation of net zero policies. These policy changes will provide further benefits to UK housebuilders.
According to an analysis by The Guardian, housebuilders, developers, and real estate tycoons have contributed nearly £40 million to the Conservative Party since 2010.
The construction sector, which includes companies that are not affiliated with the Tory party, has managed to save a minimum of £15 billion since 2015. This was achieved by building homes according to outdated, high-carbon standards without using solar panels, power sources, heat pumps, or effective insulation.
According to the analysis, reaching the UK’s target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 would cost £45 billion if individual homeowners or taxpayers were responsible for addressing these omissions.
Since 2015, the Conservative government has made a series of decisions that have resulted in cost savings for housebuilders. However, these decisions have been in conflict with the UK’s green targets, some of which are:
- The decision not to mandate heat pumps as the primary heating source in new homes has led to the majority of new homes being linked to the gas grid rather than using more energy-efficient heat pump technology.
- Not mandating the installation of solar panels in new homes.
- Delaying the implementation of more stringent building regulations with regard to insulation.
- Delaying the implementation of the future homes standard in order to guarantee that all new homes achieve net zero carbon emissions.
- Support for using hydrogen for home heating.
- Attempting to eliminate nutrient regulations that would require housebuilders to improve watercourse cleanliness.
According to Juliet Phillips, one of the senior policy advisers at the E3G climate think tank, numerous important environmental laws have been ignored or removed. This refers to the postponement of fresh legislation that would have mandated housing developers to enhance ecological diversity while improving local wildlife habitats.
She mentioned that delays had already increased costs for both homeowners and taxpayers. Homeowners are negatively impacted in two ways. Firstly, they experience higher energy bills due to the inefficiency of their buildings. Secondly, they are burdened with the expense of updating their homes to meet the net zero requirements.
Constructing a new home to meet low-carbon standards proves to be more cost-effective compared to retrofitting a current structure. According to the Guardian, green experts were consulted to estimate the cost of installing multiple items. They estimated that the total cost would be approximately £8,500. However, the cost for a homeowner to retrofit a dwelling to the same norms would be roughly £33,000.
The reason for the cost difference is that developers have the ability to incorporate technology into the building design and fabric during construction, which allows them to take advantage of significant economies of scale. Installing certain equipment, like ground-source heat pumps that require extensive trenches or insulating material that needs to be fitted into walls, is generally easier to do during the initial construction phase than attempting to do it later on.
In 2015, right after the Conservatives won the general election, the government chose to eliminate regulations that would have required the construction sector to emphasise low-carbon standards for all new homes. Since then, approximately 1.5 million new homes have been constructed, with most of them failing to meet these standards.
According to an analysis conducted by The Guardian using data from the Electoral Commission, it was revealed that the Conservative Party has received a total of £27.1 million in donations from companies involved in real estate, construction, and development since 2010.
The party received an additional £11.2m from individuals who serve on board positions of property companies or have significant real estate interests. In the same period, Tory MPs individually received over £850,000 in gifts and donations from businesses and people associated with the construction industry.
According to a spokesperson from the Conservative Party, the prime minister has outlined a practical approach towards achieving net zero that avoids burdening households with increased rents and bills. They remain fully committed to achieving the target of reaching net zero emissions by the year 2050.
The spokesperson adds that the future homes standard aims to provide homes that are prepared for net zero emissions. In 2021, they implemented enhanced energy efficiency standards, resulting in new homes that are constructed with significantly reduced carbon emissions and exceptional insulation levels.
According to a spokesperson from Bloor Homes, neither John Bloor nor any representatives of the company have had any conversations with ministers or civil servants in the past three years. Additionally, the company has not made any requests to the government for the postponement of green regulations pertaining to new homes.
According to a spokesperson from Bridgemere, the company has previously made donations to the Conservative Party. However, they have not made any donations in the past 18 months due to their growing frustration with the government’s lack of progress on necessary planning reforms.
As per a spokesperson from Thakeham, the company is committed to upholding high environmental and sustainability standards in the construction of houses and communities. They emphasise that Thakeham never seeks to reduce or postpone meeting their environmental obligations. They are currently in the process of providing affordable homes with net zero carbon emissions for a district council.
