<p>Increasing the regulatory burden on housebuilders could make many sites unviable if the housing market slows, HBF director of economic affairs John Stewart has warned. Stewart said that the increased construction costs associated with more stringent Building Regulations had been “disguised by rapid house and land price growth.” His comments followed an English Partnershipsbacked report into the extra costs of building to code for sustainable homes standards. </p> <p>The report, by costs consultants Cyril Sweett, found that homes built to code level three would cost an average of around 3% more than those built to Ecohomes “very good.”But to reach level five of the code, a traditional end-ofterrace house costing £75,235 to build under 2006 Building Regulations would cost a further £26,012 according to the research, and a high rise apartment could cost up to £35,786 extra. Stewart said: “At £26,000 a plot to achieve code level five at a density of 40 per hectare that is £1,040,000. If you add that to section 106 agreements and infrastructure provision it raises the question whether there would be any significant value left in a site if house price increases slow.” </p> <p>He added that this could damage the government’s housing delivery …