Local authorities and the transition to low carbon heat: A case study of two UK cities

Abstract

In implementing environmental building standards for housing developments, local authorities face competing priorities: the need to address the climate emergency versus creating conditions for new and affordable housing development. Current UK housing and energy market operation creates challenges for authorities seeking to implement higher energy-efficiency standards and promote the use of low- and zero-carbon (LZC) heating technologies. Penalties could be introduced if nationally-set local housing delivery targets are missed, and this tilts the balance in favour of development and away from higher standards. Local authorities also face legal challenges and costly legal battles if local policies, or how those policies are implemented, are not rigorously evidenced and applied.

Likewise, housing developers seeking to implement LZC technologies such as shared ground loops (SGLs) face equivalent challenges. Technology readiness, supply chain configuration and industry norms create obstacles and higher costs when choosing to build to higher standards. These factors interact with the land valuation process that drives the development sector to seek lowest construction costs.

These factors contribute to the persistence of fossil-fuel heating, typically natural gas boilers, in new developments. This is despite widespread recognition and government pledges to end their installation. In this context, it is vital to explore measures which are available to local authorities, and which have proved successful in creating the conditions for developers to select LZC options. Through documentary analysis and in-depth interviews, this comparative case study of two UK cities – Leeds and Bristol – explores how local authorities can use their powers, within a shared national planning framework, to support the deployment of LZC heating technologies such as SGLs. Analysis of thirty residential developments finds that, although limited by the national spatial planning framework embedded in a wider socio-political regime, local authorities have the power to design and enact policies and practices which lead developers to choose lower carbon options including SGLs. These approaches could be applied in the UK and beyond. The study makes recommendations for local policy and practice, including: restricting acceptable technology options, political support to challenge incumbents and enforce carbon reduction policies, and provision of advice and support for developers to consider niche-innovations such as SGLs.