<p><span>The housebuilding industry will have to change if the government is to meet its climate change obligations, John Gummer, Lord Deben, said today (October 8).</span></p><p><span></span><span>Giving an impassioned speech at the Housing Market Intelligence Conference in London, Gummer stated that there was “no scenario where we can have homes built to the standards of today”. With government committed to reducing all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, Building Regulations would push homes to Passivhaus energy standards, he said.</span></p><p><span></span><span>Unlike the shelved zero carbon standard, “which was not a statutory requirement”, with its new obligations the government would go ahead with its changes to homes’ energy standards, Gummer warned. “You may not like it, but it’s going to happen. But the industry is talking like it’s not going to.”</span></p><p><span></span><span>Tougher regulations would initially increase the price of a new home, Gummer said. But with eventual volume and mass production of products, “prices will fall”.</span></p><p><span></span><span>“I beg of you,” he stressed to delegates, “do not think the housing industry is going to be able to avoid the very biggest changes that will be forced upon it by government which will make sure that in five years’ time, you’re no longer contributing to the problem …