WWF UK has quit a government taskforce set up to make housing ‘zero-carbon’ in protest at a move by ministers to let homebuilders and buyers off the hook in the development of new homes.

The coalition inherited a policy from the previous government that by 2016, all new homes built would produce no net carbon emissions.  But the coalition has chosen to dilute this pledge by removing from the definition of Zero Carbon Homes the emissions from energy used to power appliances such as cookers, TVs and dishwashers.

WWF says the move will transfer the cost of cutting carbon from housebuilders and homeowners to energy bill-payers in general, and will make the establishment of community renewable energy schemes much more difficult. “What was a private cost for a homeowner now becomes a cost for the general public regardless of income and ability to pay,” said WWF’s head of campaigns Colin Butfield.

Ministers buried the changes in documents published alongside the Budget last month.  The move hammers yet another nail in the coffin of the coaltion's pledge to be the "greenest government ever" - a promise that was already undermined by its decision last summer to axe the Sustainable Development Commission.

WWF said the government’s decision was such a serious betrayal of the environment that the charity was left with no choice but to resign from the taskforce.  

Butfield said: “Since 2007, WWF has been dedicated to working with the Zero Carbon Taskforce on a pioneering piece of housing policy.  So it is a shattering blow to find out, without consultation, that the government has taken a decision to undermine both climate and housing legislation.

“WWF has been prepared to be realistic and compromise in some areas to ensure a sustainable and viable policy. This announcement, however, appears to be a unilateral decision by the Government with no consultation with stakeholders, rendering the zero carbon taskforce effectively useless.

“WWF can therefore no longer work with the taskforce, nor support the policy.”