If the Government really cares it should intervene - and fast!

Posted: 07 November 2013

“As a specialist and responsible manufacturer our products are frequently specified for listed properties and stylish, traditional new-builds,” says Chris Wood., “and our products provide high standards of security, thermal and acoustic performance. But there is a great divide between the thermal performance requirements of products used in new- build and for those in listed properties. Great swathes of buildings in London, where we do a lot of business, are either listed or lie within a conservation area and planners and conservation officers, under the guidance of English Heritage, are allowed to completely ignore building legislation and the government’s requirement for the improvement of our housing stock and their goal to achieve carbon neutral status by the middle of this decade.

“The industry, and Lomax + Wood in particular, have employed some of the most innovative design strategies to create high performance windows that meet Building Regulations while still retaining elegant and historical sightlines. But still we are faced daily with planners who are allowed to overrule the replacement of single glazed windows and doors that do very little to address this country’s, and our Government’s, essential need to upgrade and improve listed and conservation buildings. In our opinion the Government is remiss by not intervening and ensuring that buildings within a conservation area, or buildings that are listed, do not come under modified building regulations to protect certain aesthetic criteria while allowing sensitive and practical replacement. To advise people to use heavy curtains, shutters or secondary glazing appears absurd to the wider building community and those residents living within these properties. “

Chris Wood, managing director, Lomax + Wood Ltd