Eco-fanaticism may soon destroy all that makes Britain beautiful

Inearly choked on my cornflakes when I read that Britain’s historic buildings could soon be blighted by solar panels. Picture it now, the quizzical look on the faces of bewildered tourists as they gaze upon our most majestic structures, covered in photovoltaic systems, and wonder whether we have collectively lost our minds.

Currently, people whose homes are listed or in conservation areas must apply for individual building consent to make upgrades. But ministers are now considering relaxing planning rules in order that councils can give blanket permission for green technologies to be installed across whole areas.

Of all the ways in which our maddeningly bureaucratic, arbitrary and restrictive planning system could be softened, why this? Around 10 per cent of people in their early-30s are still living with their parents because they cannot afford to get on the housing ladder. Yet Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove last month confirmed he would be watering down housing targets for local authorities.

Rental prices are soaring, up over 6 per cent in the year to October 2023. Yet the Renters’ Reform Bill will only tinker at the margins while doing nothing to increase housing supply. Health and safetyism is, predictably, making matters worse: residential developments in London, for instance, will have to be fitted with windows up to 60 per cent smaller than elsewhere in the UK to comply with regulations designed to help avoid “overheating”.

How conflicted local authorities may soon feel as they wave through unsightly net-zero additions. For years, petty planning officials have been a thorn in the side of homeowners looking to make modest improvements to their homes, with applications for double glazing, or to repaint the exterior of listed buildings, being refused. Extensions involve byzantine regulations which can only be navigated by experts, driving up costs, while failure to secure permission for some upgrades can result in a prison sentence. Even changing the light fittings or touching up pointing on some listed homes requires permission from the conservation police.

These tweaks to the rules won’t fix this broken system. Historic England (HE) – a quango that receives around £90million a year from the Government and is responsible for listing buildings – may have defended it on grounds that “improving the energy efficiency of historic homes is necessary for their long-term survival”. But this rather begs the question: why are heat pumps involved, given recent warnings these devices are unsuitable for our stock of Victorian and other period properties? In general, all buildings built before 1700 are listed, as are most dating from 1700-1850. It speaks to the contradictions and absurdities that inevitably arise when a target we may not even need is pursued with such unwarranted fanaticism.

Britain has a long and proud history of preserving ancient buildings. In 1560, an Elizabethan proclamation forbade the “defacing or breaking of monuments of Antiquity”. From 1700, followers of the Picturesque movement cultivated a love of ruins. In 1865, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was founded by William Morris. Perhaps this is compatible with net zero. Perhaps the historical and beautiful features of these homes will be “properly protected”, as HE has insisted. But the example of King’s College Chapel at Cambridge, where solar panels were installed last year in an act of utter cultural vandalism, hardly gives cause for confidence.