To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 11 December 2007, Official Report, columns 546-47W, on housing: energy, what her Department’s estimate is of the costs of retrofitting the existing (a) public and (b) private domestic housing stock to meet minimum standards for energy efficiency at entry level (one star rating) of the Code for Sustainable Homes. (178910)

The Department has not made such an estimate because the code for sustainable homes applies to new homes, not existing homes. The Department’s impact assessment into making ratings mandatory under the code that formed part of the Impact Assessment of the Housing and Regeneration Bill includes an estimate of the increased build costs arising for new homes at the different code levels against current building regulations standards. This assessment is available on the

Department’s website:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/HousingandRegBill

The Department’s review of the sustainability of existing homes includes an estimate of the costs of installing specific energy savings measures into existing homes.