---

Planning and Energy Bill

My hon. Friend makes an important point that goes back to the statistics I referred to setting out how few properties are fully insulated. If only 16 per cent. are insulated, there is a reason for that. He is right: when we are building from scratch, it is easier to comply with new requirements. With regard to the building regulations, however, if the Victorian properties to which my hon. Friend the Member for Battersea referred earlier are not modernised, converted or refurbished, all sorts of building regulations will not be complied with. If one considers, for example, the construction of a staircase, the treads may not be right. That is an inevitable consequence of building before building regulations were introduced. My hon. Friend asks an important question about how we catch up with the enormous backlog of 84 per cent. The position is probably a bit better now because those figures are a couple of years out of date. A carrot and stick approach is needed to catch up with the backlog. The carrot approach includes the warm homes initiative and the various grants that are available for microgeneration. Thought needs to be given to the matter as and when conversions or major works are undertaken. A good example would be that, when one installs a new boiler, it has to meet the new up-to-date standards because that is a requirement of the law. Some improvement is therefore inevitable.