Scottish equivalent of Passivhaus standard must be coupled with significant financial support

Commenting on yesterday’s announcement by the Scottish Government that it intends to introduce a ‘Scottish equivalent’ of the Passivhaus standard for all new-build homes in Scotland, Carolyn Lochhead, SFHA Director of External Affairs, said: 

“While we share the Scottish Government’s strong desire to tackle fuel poverty and the climate emergency, if strict mandated standards are to be introduced, they must be coupled with significant support to ensure this is deliverable and affordable for our members and their tenants.  

“The social housing sector is already at the forefront of vital work to reduce carbon emissions from buildings and tackle fuel poverty – and we take that responsibility seriously. However, we must also continue to be clear about the potential real-world impact. The increased costs to build these homes, maintain them and the limited supply chain capacity to deliver at scale pose a potential risk to achieving our shared ambition to deliver 110,000 more affordable homes by 2032. This is set within the context of already challenging times for development and cuts to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget. 

“We support the ambition of designing new homes with the lowest energy demand as possible and the Passivhaus standard has already been adopted in a number of social housing projects. However, further consideration of how a ‘Scottish equivalent’ could be designed, implemented and paid for will be critical.  

“In the coming months, we’ll be engaging with the Scottish Government to ensure our members’ voices are heard and that we reach the very best outcome for social landlords and tenants.”