Housebuilder Springfield Properties is speeding ahead with its latest environmental initiative by installing cabling for electric car charging points in new houses.

The developer is one of the first in the UK to make the infrastructure for vehicle charging a standard feature in all future new-build properties.

New 7KW cabling will be incorporated at the most practical point in the home to allow homebuyers to easily install a home charge point.

Amongst the first to benefit from Springfield’s green initiative will be those setting down roots in Bertha Park, the 3,000-home community planned for the outskirts of Perth. The new village which broke ground in August 2017, is ideally located to the A9, where the Scottish Government plans to create Scotland’s first Electric Highway, with charging points along its length.

The initiative is the latest in a series of environmental measures delivered by Springfield, which include the offering of solar photo voltaic panels as an optional extra, the installation of smart, energy efficient hybrid boilers and the use of sustainable materials in the construction of its energy efficient timber-frame homes.

Innes Smith, chief executive of Springfield Properties, said: “The Scottish Government has pledged that by 2032 all new vehicles sold in this country will be electric but we anticipate that the uptake will increase rapidly long before then. One of our values as a company, is to include everything a customer needs in their new home, so, with this is mind, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for our customers to go electric.

“At Springfield, exploring new ways to protect the environment has been a focus of ours for many years and installing the infrastructure for electric car charge points in our homes was the next logical step for our customers.

“Internally, we have also implemented a number of green policies across our offices, such as no longer using disposable plastic cups and installing electric car charging points at our Larbert base.”

Humza Yousaf, Scottish Government minister for transport, added: “This is a welcome announcement from Springfield Properties. The ability to charge electric vehicles at home helps reduce barriers to ownership. With Scotland already leading the way with sales of electric and alternative fuelled vehicles rising faster than the rest of the UK, this is another positive step by industry in support of our vision to phase out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032.”