It was announced yesterday that the government has planned to propose exemption on smaller sites regarding the zero carbon homes policy standards.

According to the reports, from 2016 it was meant to be that all new homes that are built in the UK would have to be ‘zero carbon or carbon neutral’. This means that there should be no carbon emissions generated from the energy needs to a) light and b) heat the home.

However, the government has now made a u-turn after they claimed it is not always feasible on a technical and economic level.

To make it fair, the government is saying exceptions will now only occur based on site size. Ideally this would be ten units or fewer. It also wants to ensure that larger companies do not split sites into smaller units to avoid meeting these standards. This is to both cover the big companies buying smaller sites by splitting into subsidiary firms.

This is good news for us as roofers as it means that more smaller firms will still be able to offer great housing, with top quality roofs without having to stretch their resources to meet the standards. Although we always strive to meet the standards needed and we have a proud tradition of being accredited with some of the very best roofing and construction standards, this news is very welcome.

One of the main reasons behind this move is because the number of small builders has steadily been declining since 2007. Speaking in a recent interview, the CEO of FMB said: "The FMB is supportive of the zero carbon objective but we are concerned about the disproportionate cost implications for smaller house-builders. The Allowable Solutions element of zero carbon will be added in 2016 and could result in smaller building firms paying out an additional £2,000 for every single detached home.

The changes are much needed for the industry and will hopefully have a positive effect on the whole house building and construction industry as a whole.

If you are builder based in Yorkshire and require an expert roofer for your construction needs, please do not hesitate to get in touch.