HOUSING, ITS THE PROFITS NOT THE ENVIRONMENT SILLY.

Shares in some of the UK’s biggest housebuilders rose sharply last month, on the news that the government proposed to relax rules that would have hindered them from polluting waterways. The nutrient neutrality rules would mean they had to clean up wetlands and other damaged areas, if they built houses that could overload a local sewage system. The government announced it would scrap the requirement, and the impact on housing shares was dramatic. These impacts clearly illustrate how closely the fate of housebuilders and the construction sector is tied to government actions. Little wonder that the builders are so keen to wade into the political arena as major donors. Nutrient neutrality is just one part of a much bigger picture, as the Guardian’s investigation into political donations from the housing industry shows. Housebuilders have benefited to the tune of billions from delays over the past eight years to rules that would have required them to build new homes to a low-carbon standard. About a fifth of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from housing. The vast majority of the UK’s housing stock is old and will require retrofitting to plug leaks and install heat pumps and solar panels. This is a mammoth task that will take at least a decade. Building new homes to be low-carbon from the outset costs much less, and is a no-brainer in climate terms. It also brings down bills – a report in 2021 found the average household would save at least £200 a year in a new-build that was properly insulated and used low-carbon energy, a sum likely to be much greater today. With new technology such as prefabricated “Passiv” housing the construction costs are reduced drastically with minimal waste as the carcass is mass produced in dedicated factories, heavily insulated and only days to erect. Cost can be kept to a minimum but of course profits would be lower. Combined with low concrete alternatives such as screwed piling, rainwater harvesting and storage the benefits to the householder makes complete sense.