There are already many thousands of homes throughout the UK that could provide a high standard of sustainable accommodation for first-time buyers that are standing empty, according to the National Home Improvement Council (NHIC).

According to the Chartered Institute of Builders, the NHIC welcomed Yvette Cooper's announced £500 million package to aid acceleration of home building for first-time buyers and families, but also noted the widespread presence of vacant properties in the UK.

Director of the NHIC Graham Ponting commented that the task of building nearly 250,000 new homes a year within a decade was a "mammoth task" and the successful completion of the undertaking depended on a number of factors, including sanctioning the availability of brownfield sites.

"Meanwhile, the government's own statistics confirm that about four per cent of the UK's current housing stock - that's about one million homes - are standing empty.

"Also there are more than 700,000 redundant premises such as shops and offices around the country, which could be readily turned into first-class homes," he said.

It was recently reported in the Scotsman that a panel of experts met in Edinburgh this week to make initial recommendations about improvements to the energy efficiency of Scottish new homes.