A leading trade body, the Heating & Hotwater Industry Council, has called for all housing developers to build renewable ready homes. It comes following the relaxation of plans to build zero-carbon homes by 2016 as outlined in the Queen's Speech on 4 June, 2014.

Roger Webb, director of HHIC commented: “The plan to make all new homes zero-carbon by 2016 may be changing but HHIC’s stance won’t change - all homes must be built to enable renewable technology to be installed, whether that installation is immediate or in the future.

"If, as a nation, we are serious about reducing our carbon emissions then we all need to be more energy efficient. Having to retrofit our homes will be more difficult, more time consuming and more expensive. The message from HHIC is clear: design and build homes that support a low temperature heating system.”