Oxford City Council plans to ban gas hobs and boilers in all new homes

Oxford City Council has set itself a local target of being a net zero carbon city by 2040

A council aims to ban gas hobs and boilers in new homes from 2025 in a bid to be more environmentally friendly.

Oxford City Council plans to hit net zero by 2040 and said this ban would tackle the "existential threat of climate change".

The Climate Change Act requires that the UK achieves net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Home Builders Federation (HBF) has criticised councillors for diverging from the national timetable.

The plan to ban gas hobs and boilers is part of a larger ambition for all new homes and buildings in Oxford to be constructed as net zero carbon by 2025.

Oxford City Council plans to ban gas hobs in a bid to tackle the "existential threat of climate change"

Oxford City Council has set itself a local target of being a net zero carbon city by 2040.

Oxford's Labour Council also wants to bring forward their 2036 ban on oil and gas in newbuilds.

Cabinet member for planning and healthier communities, councillor Louise Upton said: "We want zero carbon buildings so that future occupants have very low energy bills and won't need to retrofit, and even more importantly it is the kind of concrete step we have to take to get the city to net zero by 2040."

However, Steve Turner, executive director at the HBF, said: "We need all parties, including central and local government, to work together and avoid diverging off the developing plan, which will lead to unnecessary delays and additional costs."

He added: "The industry is committed to the Government's very challenging agenda to make new homes even more efficient and is working with stakeholders to deliver it."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].