It is no doubt something we all grapple with in our day to day lives and a shift in mindset is needed to allow for us to engage and live in a greener world. If you are a property developer and are thinking about how you can build sustainably and would like to discuss this with Ben, or one of our Property & Construction team, please get in touch by calling 0330 058 6559 or emailing hello@scruttonbland.co.uk
The government is at least helping drive this change with their revised plan to phase out gas boilers in new homes by 2025 and ban them entirely by 2035. Furthermore, recent changes to the planning conditions for new developments which came into effect on 12 February 2024, stipulates that any new developments will be required to demonstrate a minimum of a 10% net gain on the Bio Diversity of the existing site. This will come at a great cost to the developer, further squeezing the margins made on each property and the development overall. Looking at the wider business world the UK’s Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting policy requires companies listed on a public exchange and large organisations to share energy use and carbon emissions information in their annual reports.
An organisation is deemed to be large if they meet two or more of the following criteria:
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A turnover of £36 million or more
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A balance sheet of £18 million or more
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250 plus employees
According to government statistics SMEs represent 99.9% of the business population in the UK and employ just over 60% of the UK workforce - so are these large organisations publishing information about energy use and carbon emissions going to have an impact on our spending patterns or are we more likely to look at the impact on what is in our pocket? Full sustainability at present is therefore unlikely to be the most profitable option and would need to be driven by legislation across the board if it were to have a real difference.
P R O P E R T Y A N D CONSTRUCTION | SCRUTTON BLAND | 9
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