Green Rules Will Put Up New Build Costs

The increasing regulations for the environment for homes could make construction 60% more expensive, according to a new study.

New legislation from Europe and in the UK on planning regulations and building standards have already added 14% to build costs, and that could continue to rise if BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) standards need to be met.

The study was carried out by Miller Developments, and division of Miller, the UK’s largest privately owned property development and construction company. The Government may come under pressure to review some of the rules, such as that which says that new developments must generate 10-20% of their energy through onsite renewable power.

Miller Developments chief executive, Phil Miller, said: “There seems to be lots of authorities competing with each other to set higher targets without listening to the industry and finding out whether these targets are viable. European targets are now coming through in both planning and building regulations, but they are coming through in a very disorganised way.”

The extra 14% costs already added come from the need to pay for such technologies as ground-source heating, high-performance glass and energy-efficient heating and cooling. With BREEAM guidelines, the costs rocket again.

Miller: “The rules have already completely changed and a lot of people in the industry do not realise it. What we don’t know is what the market will demand. Nobody knows what green means. It is all rather confused and needs to be clarified.”

The lack of direction from the Government has led to speculation that Energy Performance Certificates which have been introduced for residential property as part of the Home Information Packs will be used as a tool for introducing green taxes on commercial buildings. There is some concern that the EPC measures will be used to offer rebates to the best performers or increases taxes on the worst