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Tag Archives: Housing
Merton Rule comes in for criticism
July 2012: Established by Housing Minister Grant Schapps, the Local Housing Delivery Group recently published its review of planning and also local standards in new housing development. The news release sets out that “With the reduction in central planning guidance and the forthcoming abolition of regional housing targets, the role of local authorities in planning for new homes becomes even more critical and the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) poses a challenge for them to develop Local Plans which are both sustainable and viable.”
The Group has produced an interim report: A Review of Local Standards for the Delivery of New Homes. It concludes that there is “significant scope for simplification of the standards regime and recommends an urgent Government-backed review and consolidation of existing local housing standards to ensure they meet the aspirations of local communities without undermining viability.”
As such, the report looks at four key areas of standards that apply to new housing, and have included in their consideration requirements related to energy. The Group have come out critical to the ‘Merton Rule’ and similar mechanisms established by local authorities to drive the use of renewable energy through planning, stating:
“The Merton Rule was the first local planning policy to set a requirement on renewable energy for certain types of new development. It was named after the London borough that established it in 2003.
The rule required any new residential development of more than 10 units, or any commercial building over 1,000 square metres, to generate at least 10% of its energy needs from on-site renewable energy equipment in order to reduce its reliance on the National Grid and to reduce its CO2 emissions. Compliance with the policy was required as a condition of planning consent.
About half of the UK’s local authorities introduced a Merton-type rule. It also became part of national planning guidance through PPS 22. However, the variations on the Rule have now become confusing:
- Sometimes the targets are expressed as a percentage of energy generated (measured in kW hours).
- Sometimes the targets are around a decrease in CO2 instead (measured in tonnes of CO2e). Some local planning authorities “expect” a developer to achieve a 10% reduction through use of micro-renewables, others “require” 20%reductions or more.
- There are frequently different thresholds for when the policy is required – often 1,000 square metres or 10 units, but sometimes no threshold.
- About half of all planning authorities have no policy on this issue at all.”
The 2004 London Plan (the Mayor’s spatial planning strategy for London) also had a similar type of renewable energy requirement for new development, but this has been amended over time to set instead carbon reduction targets for new development in line with the Government’s zero carbon target for new homes by 2016. Go to the www.zerocarbonhub.org for more information on the 2016 target and read an earlier post for details on the Mayor’s current planning and energy requirements. Further information on the London Plan, including links to earlier version of the Plan, can be found on its wikipedia page here.
Posted in Library, News
Tagged Housing, London Plan, Merton, Planning, Renewable Energy
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‘Plans for London green deal model’
July 2012: Inside Housing exclusively reports that the Mayor has “instructed the Greater London Authority to explore creating a pan-London green deal procurement framework and promotion and referrals organisation which councils could use to deliver energy saving measures across their housing stock. The GLA aims to retrofit 2.4 million homes in London by 2020 at a potential cost of £10 billion…
Richard Blakeway, London deputy mayor for housing, land and property, said: ‘The mayor has tasked City Hall officers to scope out a range of proposals for how we can make the government’s green deal work best for the capital.
‘No final approach has been decided, but we want to maximise the value of the green deal for Londoners by presenting the most powerful case for funds and to reverse the historic poor uptake of predecessor schemes in London, such as the carbon emissions reductions target.” Read the full story here. More on the Mayor’s RE:NEW programme here.
Update on RE:NEW
20 June 2012: A quick update on progress under the Mayor’s home energy efficiency retrofit programme, RE:NEW:
- The Mayor recently reported that the 67,568 homes have been treated under the RE:NEW programme to date.
- The overall ambition for RE:NEW is set out in Policy 6 of the Mayor’s Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy which states that “The Mayor will work with partners to use public funds to develop commercial models that catalyse markets to offer appropriate whole-house retrofitting of energy efficiency, energy supply, and water efficiency measures to 1.2 million existing homes in London by 2015, and all homes in London by 2030.” DECC has recently pointed out in its latest Green Deal projections paper, that this number “is equivalent to 100% of the total number of homes expected to be retro fitted in the national Green Deal”
- The Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy also states that “The Mayor’s ambition is for energy and water efficiency measures to be installed in 200,000 homes by the end of 2012 across London’s energy efficiency programmes.” [p128]
- In August 2011, the Mayor set an interim 55,000 homes target to be delivered under RE:NEW by March 2012, which was achieved ahead of the May 2012 election
- In February 2012, the Mayor’s then environment advisor Kulveer Ranger outlined to the London Assembly’s Environment Committee the Mayor’s longer term ambitions for RE:NEW and that achieving the 200,000 homes “was always subject to the Green Deal helping to make that happen” and that the “figure , going forward, is subject to what happens with the Green Deal. We know the Green Deal timetable is slipping somewhat and it is not where we originally thought it was going to come in so we have to look at that figure and see what we can do. I am in discussion with Government right now, with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), with Ministers there, to say, ‚What do we do to ensure that we can continue more homes being retrofitted while we wait for the Green Deal to come along”
- The Mayor’s manifesto in the run-up to the May 2012 election introduced a new pledge, stating “By the end of March, 55,000 homes had been helped… I will continue this drive by extending the programme to retrofit a further 20,000 homes through RE:NEW, with a further £3 million from the GLA budget. I will prioritise households over the age of 60 for the scheme” – which appears to suggest that 20,000 more households – over the 55,000 interim target – will be retrofitted through the GLA RE:NEW programme – but no mention is made of the 200,000 original target.
- Building magazine reported only last week that “London mayor fails to secure funding for retrofit plans” stating that the Mayor “lacks funding for 86% of the energy efficiency retrofit work on London’s housing stock that he planned to deliver this year, after failing to secure financial backing from the government. As part of his election campaign, the mayor pledged to complete 20,000 retrofits of London homes this year under his RE:NEW energy-efficiency programme. But he said this would rise to 145,000 if he secured central government funding for the scheme. But the Department of Energy and Climate Change has now confirmed that while “informal discussions” took place, no funding was agreed.” Read the full article here [subscribers to Building only].
- The Mayor has announced recently that he is undertaking a formal evaluation of RE:NEW which will include full details of the programme and that these will be published in July, and the same time that Phase II of RE:NEW begins
- The programme spend for RE:NEW to date has been £7.8m
Greenhouse Gas summary reports
15 June 2012: DECC have issued a series of useful summary documents on greenhouse emissions related to key sectors:
- GHG Inventory summary factsheet: energy supply
- GHG Inventory summary factsheet: public sector
- GHG Inventory summary factsheet: residential
- GHG Inventory summary factsheet: transport
- GHG Inventory summary factsheet: waste
- GHG Inventory summary factsheets – amalgamated document
- Carbon dioxide factsheet
- All gas factsheets as single document
Posted in Data Store
Tagged Carbon Emissions, Data, Housing, Local Authorities, Waste
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Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
May 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Carbon savings achieved under RE:NEW; the number of homes treated to date under RE:NEW; timetable for the formal evaluation of RE:NEW; access to the the Mayor’s climate change strategy data; the use of the London Energy Efficiency Fund to support energy efficiency in social housing; data on achievements under RE:NEW; information on Phase II of RE:NEW and also delivery of the programme to older people; the Centre for Carbon Measurement; the Mayor’s commitments to his environment commitments; details on whether the Mayor will update other London environment strategies; the number of homes which will not reach the Decent Homes standard by April 2015; the funding of Decent Homes now it has moved under the Mayor’s control; Hybrid Buses target as set out in the Mayor’s Electric Delivery vehicle plan and the number of buildings treated under the RE:FIT programme.
Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Energy and Climate Questions to the Mayor
March 2012: This month the Mayor has been asked questions in relation to:
Climate change data for the Mayor’s energy strategy; London & Quadrant homes RE:NEW delivery; air quality around new energy from waste schemes in London (1, 2 and 3); borough roll out of RE:NEW; an update on RE:NEW; asking the Mayor whether he would support the Energy Revolution Campaign; the use of heat pumps on Crossrail actions the Mayor will take to achieve the targetst in his Climate change strategy; progress of the Mayor’s Low Carbon Employment and Skills Programme; the amount of funding levered in by RE:NEW from the CERT programme; Mayoral action on the Green Deal; an update on London’s Environment Strategy; LWaRB work on waste infrastructure; Waste infrastructure investment; London Waste & Recycling Board; RE:NEW and Fuel Poverty; RE:NEW funding from Decent Homes (1); and RE:NEW funding from Decent Homes (2).
Previous questions to the Mayor can be found here.
Westminster targets 10 housing estates for solar roll out
1 March 2012: Westminster council is planning to roll out solar panels across 10 of its estates in partnership with its ALMO CityWest Homes. Roofs on the Amberley Estate in West London is the first of the schemes to benefit and now features 114 solar panels, capable of generating up to 21.6 kilowatts of power. The £1.5 million project is funded by Westminster City Council in partnership with CityWest Homes and is set to be rolled out across ten Westminster estates by March 2012. Full details here.
Converting English Housing Survey Data for Use in Energy Models
February 2012: Before data from the English Housing Survey can be used in a SAP‐based model like the Cambridge Housing Model (CHM), it has to be both cleaned and converted to align it with the inputs needed for SAP. A sequence of conversions is needed, and this document summarises an approach to such conversions.This document is necessarily detailed and technical. It will interest readers who have themselves worked with the EHS to do stock modelling work. Other people may be more interested in the outcomes of this modelling work, including Energy Consumption in the UK. Download report here.
Local authority action for energy efficiency in housing stock
25 January 2012: This paper presents the findings of analysis of energy efficiency data supplied by landlords with bids for funding from the Decent Homes Standard Backlog programme administered by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
Posted in Data Store, Library
Tagged CERT, Energy Efficiency, Housing, Local Authorities
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Largest solar scheme on social housing in London
January 2012: Ascham Homes’ and Waltham Forest are working together to install solar PV on 1,000 homes by March 2012 to create the largest solar scheme on social housing in London. Tenants in homes with the solar PV scheme installed can use the electricity being generated from their system for free. Read the full news release here.
‘2000 solar panels give brighter future to estate hit by the riots’
5 January 2012: The Evening Standard has reported on how “Nearly 2,000 solar panels now line the roofs of the Pembury estate in Hackney – enough to provide electricity for three villages …The “photo voltaic” panels have been installed on 10 blocks, with the energy generated helping to cut bills for its tenants by as much as £150 a year.”
Due to the recent Government cuts in the level of subsidy for electricity generated by solar panels, Peabody has had to accelerate the installation process for these systems over the past month, as detailed here, and have also raised their concerns to DECC over the change in the tariffs as proposed by Government.
London housing market report Q3 2011
25 November 2011: Interesting data on key economic metrics for London as well as data in relation to housing growth in the capital. The GLA Housing Team briefing can be viewed here.