Decarbonising of private homes in Wales report

One of the biggest challenges to meeting net zero is our ability to effectively decarbonise the built environment, especially those homes already in existence.

This week, the Welsh Parliament Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee published its long-awaited report into the decarbonisation of private housing in Wales. The inquiry, in which RICS provided written and oral evidence to the committee, builds on our work as part of the Welsh Decarbonisation Implementation Group.

The report highlights a number of key concerns and recommendations raised by RICS including:

• The need for a framework of energy efficiency and retrofit targets for the private housing sector – like that in social housing and the PRS.
• Reform to planning to make it easier for energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures to be installed, including heat pumps.
• Evidence from the Green Homes Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator of the significant challenges in skills, material access and funding to deliver even the smallest of pilot programmes.
• Investment in early education to highlight the important role the built environment has in peoples lives and the influence today’s students can have on combating climate change – including the expansion of the Built Environment GCSE.
• Exploring green financing opportunities through the Development Bank of Wales, with potential grants and equity release pilots.

Commenting on the report’s publication, RICS Senior Public Affairs Officer for Wales Sam Rees said:

“RICS is committed to being a leader in the decarbonisation of homes. Surveyors are uniquely placed to offer holistic, impartial, and expert advice to consumers to influence the pathway towards low-carbon homes.

“We welcome the publication of the report and the inclusion of many of our findings and recommendations. As an organisation, we are investing significant resource to shape the future of RICS to enable it to support the retrofitting of 1.3 million Welsh homes, and 30 million across the UK.

This includes our ongoing work to develop a much-needed retrofit standard for the market, training to enable its delivery, and research into the influence sustainability can have on property valuations and lending.”