Following the Government’s proposed legislative programme set out in the Queen’s Speech last week (4 June), James Parkinson, commercial director and group marketing director of Ideal Boilers has welcomed the measures aimed at stimulating the housing/construction and manufacturing sectors.

He said: “We hope these new proposals, including continued support for the ‘Help to Buy’ and ‘Right to Buy’ Schemes; the reforms to the planning system to enable new garden cities; the sale of high-value government land to encourage development and increased support of small house-building firms, will combine to stimulate the renewal of the housing construction industry and ongoing development of a strong supporting manufacturing sector.”

Mr Parkinson continued: “We are now investigating the impact these measures will have on our industry and what they mean for our installers, particularly the measures to enhance the UK’s energy independence and security; the creation of a scheme to enable construction firms to offset carbon emissions of new homes after they have been built to meet zero carbon standards due from 2016, and the increase in apprenticeship places to 2 million by the end of the Parliament.”

Meanwhile, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, Paul King, said: “The Coalition will laud their green credentials by claiming to have delivered on the promise for all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016. This has undoubtedly been hard-won by the Lib Dems, but unfortunately they are at risk of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by letting small developments – a large chunk of the housebuilding market - off the hook. Zero carbon homes save a fortune for households in energy costs and are better for the environment.

“However, the policy of allowing developers to pay into a fund to offset emissions they cannot reduce is a sound idea in principle, despite its lukewarm reception this week. If implemented properly, this could lead to investment in local, community energy schemes and drive innovation in clean technology.”

He added: “On the other hand, a weak scheme, that generates little investment that has no connection to the housebuilding which is taking place, would be a deeply disappointing outcome.”

Chief executive of the Renewable Energy Association (REA), Dr Nina Skorupska, said: “The UK needs houses, but policy should benefit the people who will buy and live in them as well as the people that build them. Energy efficiency and renewable energy means seriously low energy bills – possibly under £300 – from day one.

“A strong emphasis on Allowable Solutions will see homeowners incur the costs of this new tax rather than the benefits of efficient homes with on-site renewables and greatly reduced energy bills.”

Martyn Bridges, director of marketing and technical support at Worcester, Bosch Group, has sympathised with the disappointment surrounding the Queen’s speech on zero carbon homes, but ultimately considers the announcement commonsensical for the nation’s construction sector.

He said: “Despite the criticism levelled at the Government for its supposed abandonment of its zero carbon homes targets, there is pressure on the construction sector to increase the amount of new homes being built to meet the ever increasing demand. It is evident that to meet the ever-increasing need for new homes, it is both financially and technically difficult to achieve zero carbon in such high volumes, suggesting the treasury may have had an involvement in setting more achievable targets.

“The impracticality and the additional cost of equipping all new homes with a whole host of renewable technologies risked burdening housebuilders with too many hurdles to overcome. By not being too prescriptive, the new proposals around allowable solutions give housebuilders themselves the option to take a more holistic approach to enhancing their overall environmental contribution.

“While there’s no doubt the revised targets themselves are a climb down, they are at least more realistic than those set before the recession – particularly given that renewables simply haven’t taken off in the way we would have liked.”

To read The Queen’s Speech in full go to http://ow.ly/xPmqO