Clause 242
Housing and Regeneration Bill
2:30 pm
Lembit Öpik (Shadow Minister (Housing), Department for Communities and Local Government; Montgomeryshire, Liberal Democrat)
I share one of the concerns that we have just heard, and it relates to certificates as a whole. The certificates represent a comprehensive effort by the Government to enshrine sustainability considerations in the housing market. It is worth remembering that the overwhelming majority of property that will accommodate the British population in 2050 has already been built. As such, our real challenge is not to ensure that new housing stock is sustainable, although that of course is important, but to bring existing stock up to sustainability standards. This can be done at a high price today, but hopefully at a much lower price in the future. My worry is whether a certificate will really do what the Government want it to do.
I am slightly confused, for example, by the wording of clause 242. It seems to require compulsion, but also to allow mitigating circumstances. It makes me believe that those people who have a good story to tell about their houses will get a sustainability certificate, and the owners of those houses which leak energy like a sieve will probably not seek such a certificate.
I have two questions, therefore, for the Minister. First, how can we be sure that the sustainability certificates will not be self-selected by those who want to talk positively about their sustainable house and that there will be no compulsion for those with less sustainable houses to come clean about that. Secondly, how confident can we be that these certificates will make a positive impact, given that the home information packs have everything apart from solid data behind them to prove their efficacy for the housing market and for a potential purchaser?