The Telegraph criticizes UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s aggressive net zero policies, arguing they have contributed to a localized housing market collapse in Aberdeen, a key hub for the North Sea oil and gas industry.

It is Miliband` push for a rapid transition to clean energy- including pledges to replace oil and gas jobs with green ones- has accelerated the decline of the North Sea energy sector. Factors include tumbling oil prices, high taxes on fossil fuels, and insufficient growth in renewables to offset losses.

Around 18,000 energy-related jobs disappearing in the region since 2010.

People leaving Aberdeen for work elsewhere, creating a surplus of homes (a “glut” of properties).

A sharp drop in house prices: The average home now sells for about £136,000 (the lowest since 2006), with more than two-thirds of properties falling in value last year according to Zoopla data.

A stark contrast to the boom period a decade ago, when Aberdeen prices were nearly double the Scottish average and had risen 165% in 10 years.

Miliband and supporters argue such transitions are necessary for long-term climate goals and could eventually lower bills through clean power.

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How Ed Miliband’s net zero folly stoked a house price crisis

In Aberdeen, jobs are disappearing and people are fleeing, leaving a glut of properties behind

Just over a decade ago, Aberdeen was thriving. The Telegraph has the story.

It was the gateway to Britain’s North Sea oil and gas industry. Average weekly earnings were higher only in London and it consistently ranked among the top UK cities for business and jobs growth.

At £215,000, property prices were nearly double the Scottish average, having risen 165pc in just 10 years as the area boomed.

Following the scent of oil and gas, new arrivals appeared in their droves to fill highly paid positions. Between 2004 and 2015, the population jumped by nearly 20,000 and local businesses flourished.

The picture is starkly different today. Tumbling oil prices, punitive taxes and the underwhelming advance of renewables have tipped the North Sea energy industry into a spiral of accelerated decline that is taking Aberdeen’s property market down with it.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s pledge to deliver a net zero transition for the area – in which jobs in oil and gas are replaced by ones in clean energy – has also fallen flat.

Rather than a renewables energy boom, some of the biggest companies in the region have scaled back investment or withdrawn entirely, seeking more profitable opportunities in other places as far-flung as the Persian Gulf.

Many of the most skilled workers have gone with them.

Around 18,000 jobs have disappeared from Aberdeen since 2010. Without intervention, the local economy will lose the equivalent of 1,000 workers a month between now and 2030, according to trade association Offshore Energies UK.

As more people flee the region, homeowners in Aberdeen watch with a mixture of anger and dismay as the value of their homes sinks while a glut of properties hits the market.

More than two thirds of homes in Aberdeen fell in value last year, according to Zoopla. The average home now sells for just £136,000 – the lowest price since 2006.

At the same time, many have found their livelihoods hit by the energy sector’s declining activity. Falling profits at some of the region’s biggest employers have left residents directly employed in oil and gas, who account for more than one in 10 locals, at risk of losing their jobs. Many more in adjacent roles face the same fate.

Some of those who bought at the peak of the housing market in 2014 have taken house price hits as high as £90,000, blasting a hole in retirement plans. By contrast, UK house prices have risen on average by more than 53% since 2014.

More than two thirds of homes in Aberdeen fell in value last year, according to Zoopla. The average home now sells for just £136,000 – the lowest price since 2006.

Read the full story here.