FMB: More incentives needed to access cheap energy through efficiency - 27/02/2009
More financial incentives are needed for building firms to construct energy-efficient homes that will access cheap energy.
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said that more incentives are needed considering the current economic situation is so dire and the property market has slumped.
Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the FMB, said that reducing VAT on home refurbishments, making changes to stamp duty and providing a delivery mechanism in the form of council tax rebates were a few ideas that could help.
Mr Berry said: "The idea of forcing energy companies to pay for energy-efficient improvements will mean that fuel bills are only going to rise, thus pushing ever greater numbers of people into fuel poverty."
He added that much more action was needed from the government if homeowners were to be presented with a range of options beyond the choice to switch gas or electricity supplier.
Last year the government decided to push energy efficiency on a nationwide scale rather than address rising prices by imposing a windfall tax on energy companies.
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