FMB: Government needs to tackle existing housing

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has warned the government that it needs to make decisions on its priorities in the housing sector.

Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the FMB, claims that the government needs to formulate a strategy that will make existing stock greener.

There are currently 850,000 empty homes in the UK that could be renovated.

Mr Berry says that homes are accountable for 27 per cent of the country's carbon emissions and that three-quarters of the existing homes will still be upright in 2050.

These could be used by anyone planning to buy a property to refurbish it and create a green ecohome without having to get planning permission for a vacant plot of land.

"In terms of making our homes greener, recent research from Oxford University, which was commissioned by the FMB, calculates that there is a new market worth between £3.5 and £6.5 billion per annum to refurbish our existing homes," Mr Berry added.