Domestic refurbishment work valued up to £10k should by eligible for a 5% VAT rate if it improves a home’s energy performance certificate rating by more than 10 points, a construction industry group has recommended.
The Construction Products Association (CPA) has included the recommendation in a letter to the chancellor George Osborne ahead of the government’s budget statement.
The CPA thinks an incentive to stimulate domestic refurbishment should be implemented as part of carbon reduction targets ahead of the Green Deal – a framework for people to invest in energy-efficiency measures without any upfront costs.
“If there is no incentive, we are concerned that people will hold back on improvements whilst waiting for the Green Deal to come into effect,” said CPA chief executive Michael Ankers.
The CPA also wants to see the government put pressure on mortgage financiers to make more funds available for house purchase and introduce some form of mortgage indemnity scheme for first-time purchasers.
