LABOUR in government would introduce a “tough new zero carbon standard” that would see residents of all new homes save hundreds of pounds a year on their utility bills.

Jeremy Corbyn will pledge today that people living in new-build homes would save around £200 a year in energy bills through better efficiency standards and renewable energy if Labour is elected into office.

This could also mean that all new homes would be fitted with solar panels, efficient insulation and triple-glazed windows.

The Labour leader will be campaigning in the south-west of England in a visit to three Tory-held marginal seats ahead of a snap general election to be held next month.

The new zero-carbon homes standard will be introduced within three years, which could be as early as the end of 2022 if Labour is elected to government before this Christmas, he said.

It comes after the government yesterday failed to bring urgent plans to tackle climate change in time to meet the six-month deadline set by Parliament.

Labour accused the Tories of having continued pursuing environmentally damaging policies in the six months since the declaration of a “climate and environment emergency” in May.

These include maintaining the ban on onshore wind, “forcing through dangerous fracking,” creating a “hostile environment” for renewable energy and continuing to use UK Export Finance to subsidise fracking and fossil fuel extraction abroad.

However the government has today caved into pressure and announced a temporary ban on fracking following a scientific report that warns it is not possible to accurately predict the probability or magnitude of earthquakes.

Shadow business and energy secretary Rebecca Long Bailey said: “It is over eight years since fracking caused earthquakes near Blackpool.

“The Tories owe the public an apology, and an explanation of how much public money they wasted while ignoring the science.
 
“The next Labour government will ban fracking — whereas the Tories will only call a temporary halt to it. You can’t trust a word the Prime Minister says.”

Labour has also said that the Conservative government in 2015 had scrapped the last Labour government’s zero-carbon homes standard six months before its implementation.

As a result, just 1 per cent of new homes received the highest energy rating last year, according to the government’s own data. 

This means around 330,000 households are living in homes with lower energy specs and could cost some up to £600 more a year in heating and electricity.

In total, this could mean households paying £1 billion more in energy bills by next year.

Mr Corbyn said: “Homes should be safe and warm for families and not damage the environment for future generations. But our housing currently contributes a massive 14 per cent of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“We will tackle the housing and climate crises at the same time by building warm and energy efficient homes.

“At this election, the choice is clear — this is our last chance to take action to protect future generations or allow the Tories to accelerate our planet’s destruction. 

“The next Labour government will usher in a green industrial revolution to tackle climate change and create hundreds of thousands of green jobs.”

The government’s own climate watchdog, the committee on climate change, has said that government policy on housing standards is failing.

It said “current policies are not driving the required changes” and that “policies to support low-carbon measures have been weakened or withdrawn.”

Labour’s shadow housing secretary John Healey said that it is because the Conservative government “caved in to property developers” and slashed standards that people are living in homes that “aren’t fit for the future.”

The party has referred to the award-winning Goldsmith Street housing development in Norwich as an example of building to high energy efficiency standards. 

The 93 homes are let at social housing rates. It won the 2019 Royal Institute of British Architects’ Stirling Prize.