We need strong local planning guidelines in place to support housing growth. New communities should thrive within the constraints of our planet’s resources and leave a fair legacy for future generations.

Some UK authorities are surging ahead and setting prime examples that our local planning authorities could follow. Springfield Meadows in Oxfordshire has 25 new homes built to Passivhaus standards.

The development boasts zero embodied carbon, net-zero energy use, and the elimination of gas utilities. Homes include solar panels, batteries and communal ground source heat pumps as standard.

Residents can even join the neighbourhood electric car-sharing scheme. West Oxfordshire District Council has also developed an Area Action Plan for their new Salt Cross Garden Village with more than 2,000 homes.

This plan will be used for assessing any future planning applications on the site.

Today, homes in our region continue to be built with new gas boilers, thirsty for fossil fuels.

Families are moving into new homes with roofs absent of solar panels and inadequate wiring for electric vehicle charging. Largescale developers do not assess carbon budgets when considering bids for building plots.

Some builders have leapt at the opportunity to better supply the growing market of house-buyers who care about the sustainability of their lifestyle.

These buyers are willing to bear a relatively small increase in the purchase price in the knowledge that it will be recouped through reduced running costs and by avoiding retrofitting.

Other builders will continue with traditional building methods until the Government tells them otherwise. This short-sighted attitude will prove costly when more strict Government guidance does arrive.

Retrofitting is expensive and seems especially illogical when some builders are creating their own rental assets to manage.

Hosting the COP26 summit has spurred the UK Government to publish its long-awaited Heat and Buildings Strategy.

This document merely sets an “ambition” for phasing out new gas boiler installation with no defined regulatory deadline.

It also provides for heat pump installation funding. However, the annual amount allocated to this will simply sustain existing installation rates.

Until more robust Government regulation arrives, our local authorities should be bold, like West Oxfordshire, and set high standards for building projects in their jurisdiction.

So what can concerned individuals do now? Write to your elected representatives and let them know how you feel. Respond to local planning applications and make your voice heard.

If you are thinking of buying a new-build home, support builders who include renewable energy production, non-gas powered heating options and electric vehicle charging.

Sadly, the most powerful act individuals can take right now is through their wallets.