Communities and Local Government Committee Inquiry

Existing Housing Stock and Climate change

Heritage Link submission

 

Heritage Link brings together 81 voluntary organisations concerned with heritage in England representing interests from specialist advisers, practitioners and managers, volunteers and owners, to national funding bodies and local building preservation trusts. Much of the historic environment is cared for - supported, managed or owned - by these organisations and thus they and their members - from local civic societies to the national amenity societies with statutory consultee status - have firsthand and longstanding experience of the heritage protection system as well as advisory and educational roles.

 

We welcome the Committee's initiative in looking at climate change in relation to the existing housing stock. We have been alarmed by the focus on energy efficiency in new buildings and by implication, vilifying older buildings as 'leaky' without evidence or understanding. We are concerned that decisions may be made under pressure from the clamour around climate change that lead to irreversible 'solutions' for lack of more measured advice.

 

Several members are already active in mitigating and adapting to climate change including: the National Trust, the Council for British Archaeology, the Church of England with its Shrinking the Footprint campaign, and the Theatres Trust, while others have expressed a wish for further information and advice. We see climate change as the biggest challenge that the historic environment has ever faced.

 

Some of our members are commenting from their specialist viewpoints but Heritage Link makes four general points relating to the Inquiry's last question on the specific challenges which may arise in relation to housing of special architectural or historical interest.

 

1. The Government's focus on new build development is misplaced when nearly 40% of domestic stock was built before 1930s and, although outside the scope of this inquiry, it is worth noting that 30% non domestic was built before 1940 and 77% of non domestic stock was built before 1985 when Building Regulations introduced conservation of fuel and power.

 

The government's focus on new build fails to recognise the significant reduction in emissions that occur as a result of refurbishing and re-using older buildings and areas whether designated or not. Fiscal reform to encouraging refurbishment, including an equal rate of VAT for repairs and maintenance alongside new work, is a must.

 

A large proportion of our historic environment is residential. Houses predominate the backdrop against which we carry out our day to day business and far outweigh the visitor attractions in this category While some of this housing stock is listed a significant number of older houses lie in Conservation Areas where incremental change can very quickly destroy that sense of local identity that is a key aspect of the character and appearance of the countryside, villages and towns. The challenge is to accommodate adaptive and mitigating measures that will respect the integrity of internationally nationally and locally designated historic places and avoid effects that would compromise the objectives of designation.

 

Beyond these, lies an enormous tranche of older housing which contribute through materials, vernacular style, and layout to a local community's identity and sense of place.

With local designations also being promoted through the Heritage Protection Review, the challenges of climate change are not restricted to listed residential properties. A distinction between listed and unlisted buildings is even more difficult to sustain when in several areas the Lists are out of date. We welcome the broader approach that English Heritage is taking in its forthcoming guidance on making historic buildings more energy efficient.

 

2. Existing building stock makes up such a large part of our environment that although English Heritage, BRE, the Centre for Sustainable Heritage and others are active in this field, there is still much to be done and further, swift research on comparative environmental performance is needed. This might take into account issues such as embodied energy, the energy required for demolition and replacement materials, the impact on landfill, the relative costs of refurbishment and new build to name just some where a sound evidence base would promote a more valid assessment and erroneous assumptions would be avoided. Research and dissemination is needed just as much by individual owners as those with large portfolios of listed properties such as Local Authorities and Social Landlords including Housing Associations and Almshouses.

 

3. With increasing community involvement in the planning process, there is a need to communicate highly technical issues without either blinding with science or dumbing down. Communities as they play a stronger role in place making for the future will need to understand change and participate in adaptation and mitigation measures that affect the historic environment. They may have to be prepared for visually intrusive measures on much loved buildings. For Government, the specialist heritage bodies and the media, this is going to be an enormous challenge.

 

4. A holistic approach is also needed to demonstrate the part that the historic environment plays in wider environmental sustainability. Energy efficiency issues go far beyond buildings and structures alone. Weighing up transport costs for visitors to a historic site, such as a historic house in a remote area, and the impact that site has on the local economy in revenue, procurement, employment and quality of life is just one example of the complex balance of social and economic factors.

 

Heritage Link is keen to develop the understanding of the voluntary heritage sector on this subject and is currently considering a webpage to signpost members and others to research and other initiatives on climate change and the historic environment. The 2008 issue of Heritage Counts, the annual sector-wide audit of the historic environment, is expected to bring together current research on the subject.

 

In this context, we welcome the Committee's inquiry and the contribution it will make to our understanding of the issues involved.