Green-minded developers could end up losing out on land if the code for sustainable homes (CSH) is not made mandatory on all sites, the HBF has claimed. Under a voluntary code, said HBF head of technical Dave Mitchell, developers bidding for a site and planning to build to the code’s standards could be out-bid by those not using the code. “It is an additional cost and so those building to it will have to offer less. If it were mandatory the cost would come from the land price.” Mitchell also warned that the code may be a “hidden cost,”added by local authorities after land had been bought: “Housebuilder may find it attached as a condition of consent,”he said. Publication of the CSH is imminent.