The London Borough of Camden is applying fees of £2,700 per tonne for carbon produced by major new housing schemes.
As a part of Zero Carbon Homes rules introduced by the Greater London Authority in October last year, planners can apply an offset fee to developers who do not produce carbon neutral homes. This is then set aside for offset schemes within the borough.
Most boroughs were expected to pick a recommended price of £60 per tonne over a 30 year period, or £1,800. Camden Council have chosen a higher price, stating that ‘Camden’s inner London landscape will make it more challenging and expensive to deliver carbon reduction measures, and therefore we would expect that the highest price of £90 per tonne is appropriate for this target. This will equate to £2,700 per tonne of carbon (30 years)’.
The tonnes of carbon produced by new houses or flats are calculated as part of an Energy Statement, before planning is granted. Good design can reduce this bill considerably if applied early on.
