The RIBA’s election season got underway last night with the RIBA West Midlands question time debate “Buildings Matter”, held in conjunction with partners form the construction industry. Staking a claim for David Dimbleby’s crown was RIBA regional Chair Dhiran Vagdia, who chaired a lively and wide-ranging debate between the three main parties. Dhiran was joined on the stage by Labour candidate for Birmingham Erdington Jack Dromey and two candidates vying for the Solihull seat – the sitting Lib Dem MP Lorely Burt and Conservative candidate Maggie Throup.
The underlying theme for the evening was the economy: how and when to cut public spending and the merits of “growing Britain out of recession”; pleas from the floor to provide economic stimulus with a cut on VAT for refurb and a general feeling that the UK had to invest in improving its skills base in order to come out stronger from recession. Localism and the role of government was touched on too – Jack Dromey arguing that the Conservatives housing and planning proposals would spark nimbyism, whilst Maggie Throup countered that her party’s plans would encourage greater community buy-in for new development. Meanwhile, Lorely Burt set out the case for a National Infrastructure Bank and her party’s plans for cutting the deficit.
All in all a great taster for what is to come. Next up is the RIBA’s hustings in London on April 6th, followed by two events in the Westcountry; Bristol on the 9th and Plymouth on the 16th April. For further details on the RIBA’s election activity and information on how to get involved, visit our website at www.architecture.com/manifesto or follow the RIBA Twitter stream at http://twitter.com/riba
How we encourage, coerce or insist that homeowners improve their homes to help the UK meet our carbon targets is an issue that seems to be gaining pace with politicians and those of us lobbying them. All three parties have committed to a variety of loans and ways of paying so that we make improvements to our homes which currently account for 28% of the UK’s total carbon emissions. And yet no party seems to be proposing enough to tackle the situation on a large scale. The RIBA, in our manifesto, has called for the next Government to retrofit 4 million homes within the lifetime of the next parliament. The latest Government announcement last week appears to say it will meet that commitment by eco-fitting seven million homes by 2020. It’s clear that to get people to take up any kind of retrofit offer however, we will need a combination of carrot and stick.
The ‘Cut the VAT’ coalition (RIBA is a member) proposes a cut in VAT on home maintenance and repair to 5%. The coalition asserts that by lowering VAT, more homeowners will take up the offer of eco-fitting their homes particularly if at the same time they are putting in a new kitchen or bathroom. A new report commissioned by the coalition reports that a cut in VAT would create more than 24,000 jobs in the construction sector, as well as an extra 31,000 other new jobs in the wider economy in 2010 alone and contribute more than £1.4 billion to the UK economy in 2010, rising to £17 billion by 2019. So the drop in VAT could be the carrot. But there might need to be a few sticks as well. This week the UK Green Buildings Council called for mandating for higher levels of energy efficiency for homeowners carrying out extensions (consequential improvements) and for properties to be upgraded relating to their Energy Performance Certificates. Both measures are certainly the stick.
The RIBA is hosting a hustings in London on 6 April, come and pose your questions to the architecture spokespeople of the three main political parties. More details.
