The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has welcomed the statement from Communities Minister Don Foster on the need to ensure that sustainability and quality remain high on the agenda through the Housing Standards Review Process.
The Terms of Reference for the review now include a line that states that their aim is to 'enable quality and sustainable housing developments to be brought forward more easily'.

Paul King, CEO, UK Green Building Council, said: 'We are pleased to see that CLG has recognised the importance of upholding the big improvements we've seen in the sustainability and quality of new homes in recent years. We remain concerned however that this self-proclaimed 'radical and fundamental review of the entire framework of building regulations' will create considerable uncertainty that is more likely to slow down housing delivery than speed it up.

'While we do believe that there is room for improvement in terms of rationalising the current range of voluntary standards, this must not be at the expense of delivering high quality, sustainable homes fit for the future.'