Letter: It's existing homes which need to pull up their eco socks

SIR – I read with interest Terry Hewson’s letter (Letters, 31st March) with suggestions for reducing carbon emissions by increasing the sustainability requirements of new homes.

May I point out that all new homes are subject to ever increasing and stringent building regulations and requirements that ensure new homes are far more thermally efficient than 99.9% of the homes in which we live at present.

Often a new home replaces an old one and therefore this is a gain in terms of carbon emission.

New homes also have to meet increased standards such as SAP ratings and EPC tests that many of the homes in which we live would fail.

If we are to get ourselves out of this global crisis mess that we have got ourselves into, it is about time we started looking inwardly instead of pointing the finger at others.

All of the extremely valid suggestions that your reader proposes are able to be retro-fitted to existing house stock.

Surely it is time we all took action.

Jason Gadsby,

Milford