Green building in diminished affordability claim

The increase in the building of eco-friendly homes in Wales are taking place at the expense of creating affordable ones, it has been argued.

An unnamed building firm has made the claim on the basis that the financial pressures created by the Welsh Assembly's stipulation that all new homes should be zero-carbon by 2011 - five years before the rest of the UK - is placing too much of a cost strain on constructors with new building restricted as a result, reports the Green Building Press.

He said: "It can make it uneconomic to go ahead with developments in certain places, particularly in the Valleys. And that means that fewer affordable homes will be built."

Richard Price of the Home Builders Federation claimed that the body had received "no details" from the assembly over how the 2011 target was supposed to be achieved.

The lack of affordable homes may provide another good reason for people to seek to build their own homes at a lower price.

According to self build ABC, the current average self build home in the UK costs a total of £147,000 to build.


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