Climate change is not just the challenge of our generation, it is a historic opportunity and one in which real estate must play a leading role.
That is the conclusion of Mission Zero, the 340-page net zero report published at the end of last week by former energy minister Chris Skidmore.
Among his 129 recommendations, the Conservative MP for Kingswood calls for another wholesale reform of the planning system, new finance and incentives for decarbonisation and a comprehensive reformation of supply chains and construction methods.
Reform of the planning system has long been on the government’s to-do list, but Skidmore’s review has raised the stakes.
“Reform the local planning system and the National Planning Policy Framework now,” it states, or the chances of reaching net zero by 2050 are zero.
Skidmore’s review says the planning system should be an “essential tool in delivering the changes needed for net zero” but says it is currently “undermining net zero and the economic opportunities that come with it”.
Instead of tinkering or focusing on housebuilding targets and nimbys, net zero must be placed “at its very heart”, says Skidmore. He recommends that a “net zero test” for applications be introduced, requiring all developments to be compliant.
The report also suggests that net zero requirements should take priority over viability, saying “net zero should be a fundamental consideration when determining the viability of a project”.
The planning system must also be re-tooled, states the report, to ensure that it can cope with the expansion of energy networks, without which the net zero mission will fail.
Solar roof revolution
To address that, Skidmore says the government should adopt the mission of a “solar roof-top revolution”. It proposes removing the “existing constraints and barriers to solar panel deployment across residential and commercial buildings in the UK”, with the need for planning replaced with a presumption in favour.
Meanwhile, new regulations and business models should be implemented to sweep away the current barriers to deploying energy back on to the grid from solar arrays. This, in turn, would require a major improvement of the current grid.
And solar farms in the countryside should not be planned piecemeal, it adds, but “in a co-ordinated fashion as part of a land use strategy”.
That land use strategy is a vital – and radical – part of Skidmore’s proposals.
“Net zero relies on using land to remove carbon from the atmosphere” the report states. Not least is the plan to plant 74,000 acres of woodland a year by the end of this parliament. These “nature-based solutions” could achieve 40% of the greenhouse gas removals required by 2050. But, the report acknowledges, they are “land hungry” and must compete with housebuilding targets and other uses linked to net zero, such as biomass, nuclear, solar or wind power.
To solve this riddle, the government must publish a land use framework “as soon as possible, and by mid-2023”, Skidmore insists.
This, he says, must be rigorous enough to provide a hierarchy of uses or at least a basis for deciding on competing land use opportunities, and it must have sufficient clout to inform decisions made through the planning system.
Government meddling
Real estate’s role as a creator of emissions is well told, but Skidmore’s review points out how the sector is “crucial” in enabling the UK to reach net zero and how government actions have so far “constrained” the sector in its attempts to grow and decarbonise.
The report cites “continued changes to government net zero policy and measures to undermine business confidence”. Instead of constantly changing the landscape, the government should be leading the way through its public procurement standards. “Given the scale of the Crown Estate and public buildings, standards for how construction should be carried out would send strong signals to the sector and enable firms to test innovations and start to scale them up,” says the report.
Skidmore wants to see a public procurement plan for low-carbon construction adopted by the end of 2023.
“By entrenching the use of low-carbon materials, construction methods and operations [government] has the potential to set the baseline against which development must strive to exceed, address industry’s aversion to risk and support small and medium-sized businesses in moving towards sustainable building design and operations.”
Jennie Colville, head of ESG at Landsec, says: “Amending building regulations to mandate whole-life carbon assessments at the outset of a building’s life cycle will encourage greater reductions in embodied carbon. It is a rare opportunity for government both to demonstrate the UK’s leadership and hold industry accountable for supporting sustainable growth.”
The time for action is now
The sense of urgency in the review is palpable. “The need for further action is clear,” says Skidmore. “For all the UK’s successes and clear ambition shown by government, it is not on track to deliver on all of its commitments according to the latest progress report by the CCC [Climate Change Committee], which shows risks across most sectors – but particularly… buildings decarbonisation.”
Derwent London’s head of sustainability John Davies says while the report may not be “as tub-thumpingly radical as some had hoped for or, indeed, wanted, it is good to see a government appearing to put itself to task on a big issue like this”.
“The acid test for these puddings is always in the eating, however,” he adds. “Given the societal and economic situations which surround us, will government take this report as one of the key building blocks to future prosperity and insulating the country from the effects of climate change? Or will it sit on the shelf along with all the other good ideas?”
As Skidmore himself says: “The review’s findings are unequivocal: we must grab this opportunity, there is no future economy but a green economy.”
Five key property takeaways from the net zero review
- Government should develop a public procurement plan for low-carbon construction and the use of low-carbon materials by the end of 2023.
- Government should publish a land use framework by mid-2023 at the latest
- Government should fully back at least one Trailblazer Net Zero city, local authority and community, with the aim for these places to reach net zero by 2030
- Government should reform the local planning system and the NPPF now. Have a clearer vision on net zero with the intention to introduce a net zero test, give clarity on when local areas can exceed national standards and encourage greater use of spatial planning and the creation of net zero neighbourhood plans
- Government should undertake a rapid review of the bottlenecks for net zero and energy efficiency projects in planning and ensure local planning authorities are properly resourced to deliver faster turnaround times.
Read Skidmore’s net zero review in full
