Merton Rule under threat

The government has denied speculation that it is set to publish a new draft planning policy statement that will effectively abolish the Merton Rule, the local authority driven policy that demands all new buildings reduce carbon emissions by 10% through the use of renewable energy sources.

Developer-led bodies including the Home Builders Federation and British Property Federation (BPF) support the scrapping, claiming the Merton Rule is too prescriptive and is a less efficient way of cutting carbon than investing in energy efficient building design.

Liz Peace, BPF chief executive, said: “Redirecting the financial investment required to deliver these targets for onsite renewables to the buildings themselves and the services in them would increase their energy efficiency.

“It would deliver better energy savings and also allow buildings to benefit from larger scale renewable energy generated much more efficiently. This will ultimately save significantly more CO2 than the blinkered approach encouraged by the Merton Rule.”

However, in a letter to housing minister Yvette Cooper, Samantha George, deputy leader of Merton council, said: “The Merton Rule has been one of the major drivers of renewable energy technologies in Britain… 150 local authorities across the country have already …adopted our policy.

“And we were particularly pleased that you yourself indicated support for the rule when you called for all authorities to adopt Merton's approach.

“Scrapping the rule would mean that local authorities lost their ability to influence developments by working with developers on the most appropriate type of renewable energy in pre-planning stage. Any such loss would be detrimental to the government’s goal of reducing carbon emissions from buildings.”

Government has been strenuously lobbied by developers’ groups, who want a national rather than local strategy for reducing carbon emissions on new buildings.

Peace said: “The property industry is fully behind wide-ranging measures to green up our buildings, but people need to think beyond the headlines if we are to find a solution that is both workable and cost-effective. The industry must not be straitjacketed into a single method that may not always work.”

One defender of the rule is the Renewable Energy Association which said: “The REA believes it is vital the Merton Rule is defended and allowed to develop. This will ensure the skills and capacity to deliver zero carbon homes is fully developed to meet the government’s timetable in 2016 and make a growing contribution to the UK’s contribution to the EU’s 20% Renewable Energy target by 2016.”