New houses in Scotland and the rest of the UK have made "substantial advances" in their energy efficiency over the last ten or 20 years, it has been asserted.

Editor of The ENDS Report - a leading monthly journal for UK environmental business and policy - Nicholas Schoon, stated that due to new requirements, homes have improved their energy efficiency in comparison to properties built ten or 20 years ago.

"There have been substantial advances, yes. New homes today have to be built with double-glazing, they have to have cavity wall insulation, they have to have decent loft insulation, all that sort of stuff," Mr Schoon asserted.

However, he also expressed concern that inspections of new home builders are meant to be carried out by "the building regulation people at Defra" but that this is not occurring to the degree he would have hoped.

A 2003 White Paper issued by the government stated energy efficiency was important in achieving targets, identifying potential carbon savings of approximately 20 million tonnes per year across the economy over the next 15 years.