Britain’s most innovative developer of low and zero-carbon housing, ZEDHomes, today welcomed the Prime Minister’s determination to push ahead with new “eco-towns” across the country.  However, the company called on the Prime Minister to ensure that exciting and visionary approaches to zero carbon homes are not squeezed out by red tape and by low quality approaches from volume house builders.

Gordon Brown’s announcement at lunchtime today set out bold new plans to build a total of three million new homes by 2020, underpinned by new legislation to be introduced over the next year.  He committed the government to consulting on the use of the New Towns Act to speed up the construction of eco towns – with low and zero carbon housing.Use of the New Towns Act is likely to involve the transfer of powers from local planning authorities to new development corporations, specifically empowered to promote the construction of the eco towns.  ZEDHomes has long argued that local planning authorities do not have the experience or expertise to assess innovative low and zero carbon developments.

“With the urgency of the problem of climate change, the government should have been driving ahead with eco-developments,” commented Michael Shwartz, Managing Director, ZEDHomes.  “Instead, we have faced many years of frustration from a planning system that cannot properly assess the importance of low and zero carbon developments.  Our schemes face delay and rejection, while traditional developments are nodded through.  The government must ensure that progress is speeded up - urgently.”

ZEDHomes have cautioned the government against the dangers of squeezing out innovative developers.  Large scale developments benefit volume house builders, who set low minimum standards and often pay mere lip service to the need for more low and zero carbon housing.
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“Any new measures must recognise that pioneers like us cannot compete on the scale of the volume house builders, yet we can offer affordable, genuine zero carbon homes,” added Michael Shwartz.  “The government must avoid the mistakes of the past – including the large monotonous estates of some of the original new towns – by encouraging innovation and vision on a smaller scale.”/ends

Notes to Editors
For the past five years, ZEDHomes has been combining innovative design with existing technology to build homes and workplaces that require a fraction of the energy required to run a traditionally built development of the same size.  ZEDHomes aims to ensure that the energy required for its developments is met by on-site energy sources that will make no demands on the earth’s precious natural resources.  The company has recently seen its first developments approved in Harrow and Hillingdon.