Building companies save billions from Tory delays to low-carbon regulations

Housebuilders and property developers have benefited by billions of pounds from delays to low-carbon building regulations in the past eight years of Tory rule, when the sector became one of the biggest sources of donations to the Conservative party

- Fiona Harvey

The delays mean that homeowners and taxpayers will have to pay tens of billions of pounds to bring newly built homes up to low-carbon standards, and have resulted in years of unnecessarily high greenhouse gas emissions and higher energy bills for residents.

At least 10% of donations received by the Conservative party since 2010 came from property developers, real estate tycoons and others connected with the construction industry, exclusive Guardian analysis shows.

The government is to implement fresh delays to green regulations, after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced a rollback of net zero policies last month that will benefit housebuilders still further.

The Guardian found housebuilders, developers and real estate tycoons donated almost £40m to the Tories since 2010, when their coalition with the Lib Dems took office.

The construction sector - including some companies that are not Tory party donors - has saved at least £15bn since 2015 by building homes to old, high-carbon standards, without solar panels and batteries, heat pumps and effective insulation.

The cost of remedying these omissions in order to reach the UK's target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, if left to individual homeowners or taxpayers, would reach £45bn, according to the analysis.

Since 2015, the Conservative government has made several decisions that saved money for housebuilders while running counter to the UK's green targets. These include refusing to require new homes to be built with heat pumps or solar panels, delaying insulation regulations and attempting to scrap regulations that would force housebuilders to clean up polluted watercourses.