All new homes should have solar panels, Green Party MP says

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Solar panels should be on the roofs of all new homes, a Green Party MP has argued, as she urged the Government to bring forward legislation.

Ellie Chowns said all houses built as part of the Government’s plan to deliver 1.5 million homes over the course of the next five years should be able to generate their own power.

The homes should also be “well-insulated, warm and cheap to heat”, the MP for North Herefordshire said during housing questions on Monday.

Ms Chowns said: “Given the Government’s ambitious house-building plans and the energy crisis and the climate crisis, can I ask the minister: will she bring forward legislation in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill, to first of all ensure that all new houses have solar panels on the roof, as standard, so they can generate their own power?

“And secondly, to ensure that net zero building standards are brought forward ASAP (as soon as possible), so that homes are well-insulated, warm and cheap to heat?”

Speaking in the Commons, housing minister Rushanara Ali replied: “This Government has set out a very ambitious plan for home-building but also on green issues, the future home-building programme will address those issues.”

Last week, the Government announced the New Homes Accelerator, a scheme dedicated to the task of speeding up the delivery of housing by working through planning blockages and local issues.

Analysis by the Government has revealed there are 200 sites across England with outline or detailed planning permission for up to 300,000 new homes, which are yet to be built.

Elsewhere in the session, Labour MP for Sheffield South East Clive Betts claimed that delivering accessible homes was an issue that had been “forgotten”.

The former housing committee chair said: “The last government consulted at very great length about bringing accessibility standards for all new homes up to N42 level, the select committee recommended that be done immediately, and the response we got was: more consultation was needed.

“Could we get an assurance from the minister this now will be dealt with as a matter of urgency, so that all new homes are more accessible for people with disabilities? It’s a real important issue, which seems to have been forgotten about.”

Ms Ali said she will be doing further work on accessibility, which is “extremely important”.