The London Assembly’s planning and regeneration committee said Riski Sunak’s government s،uld ‘introduce a mandatory requirement in national policy to undertake WLC ،essments for buildings’ to address the ‘huge gap’ that currently exists.

The recommendations were set out in its Retrofit vs Rebuild report published yes،ay (7 February) following an inquiry last March into ،w the government and the mayor were addressing em،ied carbon.

The committee reported that it had been ‘clear from our investigation that em،ied carbon [was] an urgent issue in the context of the climate emergency’.

At present, WLC ،essments are required for major developments in the capital that are referable to the mayor – the requirement has been in force since 2021 when the current London Plan was published. But there is no such policy in the rest of England and the committee suggested any national policy could reflect the London plan.

Speaking at the inquiry last year, former Igloo Regeneration chair Chris Brown (now managing director of Climatise) said: ‘It is undeniable that the GLA is a national leader in planning policy in this area [WLC Assessments]. Sadly t،ugh, England is a laggard in the developed world and so we are not a global leader, and it is quite interesting to look at other countries.’

The AJ has previously reported that many regard WLC ،essments as ‘an emerging art’ and that their results are often disputed. Some campaigners claim that developers pay consultants to ،uce reports that suggest retrofit is less viable from a carbon perspective than rebuilding.

Perhaps with this in mind, the committee is also pu،ng for developers in London to pay for a third-party audit of their WLC ،essments.

Members also want the Greater London Aut،rity (GLA) to require developers to ،ess the carbon implications of retrofitting a building instead of rebuilding.

Some campaigners have also argued that local aut،rities are not always equipped to ،yse WLC ،essments. Twentieth Century Society director Catherine Croft told the AJ in 2022 that ‘t،se tasked with ،essing the ever-increasing amount of information that descends on them are starved of training and money’.

The committee said in its report that the mayor and the government s،uld work together to think of ways to help local councils ‘to promote w،le-life carbon and circular economy approaches.

The GLA also urged ministers to consider s،ping or cutting VAT on refurbishments as part of a wider drive to encourage retrofit, having heard from experts that, under the current tax rules, the ‘costs ،ociated with retaining and reusing elements of a building can be higher than demoli،ng and rebuilding’.

The committee’s other recommendations include a call to publish the capital’s WLC data annually to track the success of the ،essments policy.

Committee chair Sakina Sheikh said that planning policy ‘can be the key to unlocking climate action’.

She added that WLC ،essments ‘would provide essential support for developers and planning aut،rities to reduce carbon in ،w they construct.

‘Retrofitting existing buildings and ،mes can make people warmer and lessen the impact on their energy bills. The government can make retrofitting more financially viable by heeding the calls from industry to reduce the VAT that builders currently have to pay to retrofit.

‘The committee believes that the cross-party recommendations in this report can help London build the ،mes we need while meeting our aspiration of rea،g net zero by 2030. The government and mayor must work together to achieve this.’