North Herefordshire Green MP Ellie Chowns has urged the government to ensure all new homes meet high sustainability standards “ASAP”.

Leading an hour-long parliamentary debate on the topic on September 12, Ms Chowns said that the new government “have made major commitments on building new housing and it is crucial to consider what type”.

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But this presented a potential “massive win-win-win opportunity” to combine reducing carbon emissions, ensuring that new homes “are warm, affordable to heat and not mouldy”, while “giving the economy a great big boost and creating thousands of high-skilled jobs”.

“We know that investing up front is much cheaper than having to retrofit later, so let us do this right from the start,” she said.

And she demanded that the government say when the official future homes standard, in development for five years, will finally take effect, pointing out that the previous Labour government had committed to net-zero standard for new homes “by 2016”. The government should also allow councils to set higher house building standards locally, Ms Chowns said.

And she demanded that the government say when the official future homes standard, in development for five years, will finally take effect, pointing out that the previous Labour government had committed to net-zero standard for new homes “by 2016”. The government should also allow councils to set higher house building standards locally, Ms Chowns said.

Today I led a debate in parliament on the environmental standard for new housing, calling for: maximum energy efficiency, solar panels on roofs as standards, swift bricks and bat boxes, flood resilience, and tackling embodied carbon.

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On measures to boost biodiversity she said her “personal favourite” was to require each new home to have a “swift brick”, a £30 hollow brick to house the summer-visiting birds, whose populations have declined by 60 per cent in 30 years.

“I am not just saying this because both my sons grew up playing for Ledbury Swifts football club, meaning that these birds have a special place in my heart; they should have a special place in all our hearts,” she said.

Housing minster Alex Norris responded that the government is “looking very carefully” at the new homes standard, which would be brought in “in due course”.

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“We are talking to the industry and the public, and we want to ensure the standards we set are ambitious and achievable,” he said.

Housing experts have warned the housebuilding industry are likely to oppose higher building standards for new homes.

Ms Chowns has been the Greens’ housing and communities spokesperson since 2022 and has said Herefordshire faces particular challenges in raising the quality of its housing stock.