Construction»Sustainable homes with high hopes of six appeal
»Thursday, June 17,2010
The market for new homes is set for huge upheaval over the next six years. From 2016 all new-build houses will have to reach the sixth level of the Code for Sustainable Homes and be carbon-neutral. The green standard, drawn up by the Government, takes into account everything from water efficiency to whether space is provided for bicycles and recycling bins.
Early next year Barratt will start selling the first tranche of what it says is the UK’s first mainstream level-six development, at Hanham Hall in Bristol. This will provide two-bedroom coach houses and two and four-bedroom cottages, some sold privately and the rest available to rent or buy under shared ownership.
When the development is complete in 2016 there will be 185 new homes around the Grade II listed former hospital, which will be refurbished to house a café, a car-sharing club and a crèche. All the homes on the 12-acre site will have rainwater harvesting systems, allotments and orchards, and the buildings will be built with recycled materials.
The pioneering green architect Bill Dunster, founder of Zedfactory, already has a level-six project under his belt: a small development in Northampton, which sold out last year. He is about to apply for planning for two level-six projects: EcoGrove in Essex, a private 40-house scheme for the developer Carl Grover, and PortZED, a distinctive terrace of six egg-shaped blocks with wind turbines in Hove, East Sussex.
The first super-insulated prefabricated homes in Essex, which are part-powered by solar panels, will go on sale early next year. The BohoGreen (bohogreen.co.uk) 67-flat scheme in Hove should start to go on sale in 2012.
Another level-six scheme is due to start next year in Peterborough. The pPod development will feature 350 new homes with funding from the Homes and Communities Agency. About 120 of the properties will be offered as affordable housing, with the rest sold on the open market. The development will include mini allotments and a car-sharing club and all energy will be produced on site.
The key questions for homebuyers is what impact the code-six directive will have on house prices and property supply. Dunster believes that the new rules will “probably add nothing” to the cost of buying a new home, even if the homes cost more to build. “The consumer cannot pay any more for housing,” he says. “If the construction costs go up, the only thing you can do is reduce the cost of land.”
Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, agrees with Dunster. He says: “In terms of supply, we might see a temporary uplift in 2016 because a lot of people will try to deliver schemes before the deadline. But after that landowners will suddenly be forced to deal with lower prices, and they will not like that. They will take land off the market and that will affect supply in the medium term.”
Crack the code: what makes a level-six sustainable home?
From 2016 new-build homes will need to be highly insulated and almost airtight. They will have to produce a substantial amount of their own energy — through technology such as solar panels or biomass boilers — and minimise waste of water. This could mean anything from simple aerated shower heads to rainwater harvesting systems.
The code works on a points system. Developers can pick up credits for an array of green features: one point for providing a home office, two for providing cycle storage, four for providing recycling facilities and six for using sustainable building materials. To achieve level-six status, a property needs 90 points out of a possible 100.
Critics say that the huge range of options is leaving some developers confused.
“I know how important it is to the industry to have a clear definition as soon as possible — so that builders can buy land with confidence and start to design the homes of the future,” Grant Shapps, the Minister for Housing and Local Government, says. “So, in a matter of weeks I will be publishing a final zero carbon definition so that the industry can deliver the improved eco-friendly homes we need.”
Early next year Barratt will start selling the first tranche of what it says is the UK’s first mainstream level-six development, at Hanham Hall in Bristol. This will provide two-bedroom coach houses and two and four-bedroom cottages, some sold privately and the rest available to rent or buy under shared ownership.
When the development is complete in 2016 there will be 185 new homes around the Grade II listed former hospital, which will be refurbished to house a café, a car-sharing club and a crèche. All the homes on the 12-acre site will have rainwater harvesting systems, allotments and orchards, and the buildings will be built with recycled materials.
The pioneering green architect Bill Dunster, founder of Zedfactory, already has a level-six project under his belt: a small development in Northampton, which sold out last year. He is about to apply for planning for two level-six projects: EcoGrove in Essex, a private 40-house scheme for the developer Carl Grover, and PortZED, a distinctive terrace of six egg-shaped blocks with wind turbines in Hove, East Sussex.
The first super-insulated prefabricated homes in Essex, which are part-powered by solar panels, will go on sale early next year. The BohoGreen (bohogreen.co.uk) 67-flat scheme in Hove should start to go on sale in 2012.
Another level-six scheme is due to start next year in Peterborough. The pPod development will feature 350 new homes with funding from the Homes and Communities Agency. About 120 of the properties will be offered as affordable housing, with the rest sold on the open market. The development will include mini allotments and a car-sharing club and all energy will be produced on site.
The key questions for homebuyers is what impact the code-six directive will have on house prices and property supply. Dunster believes that the new rules will “probably add nothing” to the cost of buying a new home, even if the homes cost more to build. “The consumer cannot pay any more for housing,” he says. “If the construction costs go up, the only thing you can do is reduce the cost of land.”
Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, agrees with Dunster. He says: “In terms of supply, we might see a temporary uplift in 2016 because a lot of people will try to deliver schemes before the deadline. But after that landowners will suddenly be forced to deal with lower prices, and they will not like that. They will take land off the market and that will affect supply in the medium term.”
Crack the code: what makes a level-six sustainable home?
From 2016 new-build homes will need to be highly insulated and almost airtight. They will have to produce a substantial amount of their own energy — through technology such as solar panels or biomass boilers — and minimise waste of water. This could mean anything from simple aerated shower heads to rainwater harvesting systems.
The code works on a points system. Developers can pick up credits for an array of green features: one point for providing a home office, two for providing cycle storage, four for providing recycling facilities and six for using sustainable building materials. To achieve level-six status, a property needs 90 points out of a possible 100.
Critics say that the huge range of options is leaving some developers confused.
“I know how important it is to the industry to have a clear definition as soon as possible — so that builders can buy land with confidence and start to design the homes of the future,” Grant Shapps, the Minister for Housing and Local Government, says. “So, in a matter of weeks I will be publishing a final zero carbon definition so that the industry can deliver the improved eco-friendly homes we need.”
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