Environment committee demands efficiency

Homes should be "retrofit" with measures to make them more energy and water efficient.

The Environmental Audit Committee also want to make houses more resilient to flooding.

"Retrofit" is the process of improving existing buildings in order to make them more energy efficient.

The committee also suggested that planning permission should only be given to new housing developments if they are designed to suit future changes in the climate.

Maintaining current levels of flood protection will require spending on defences to increase from around £600 million a year to £1 billion a year by 2035.

Tim Yeo, chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, said: "We must act now to protect people, property and prosperity and safeguard the natural environment. Delay will only impose greater costs on future generations."