Lloyds Bank has joined forces with B&Q owner Kingfisher, fellow mortgage lender Santander and power supplier E.on to urge the government to use a stamp duty rebate to make homes more energy efficient.
All four have joined the Better Homes Alliance (BHA), which wants incentives to drive greater energy efficiency and has written to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt calling for a ‘rebate to renovate’.
Applied to homes, the rebate would be given to improve a house’s EPC or energy rating through renovation within two years of a sale.
“We believe that a carrot, rather than a stick, approach is the only way to encourage homeowners to make the kind of improvements that will start addressing the fact that we have some of the least efficient and carbon-intensive homes in Europe," the BHA letter said and reported by Sky News.
Britain's ageing housing stock accounts for 17% of all of the country’s carbon while improvements in energy efficiency would save £10 billion or £390 per household, the BHA calculates.
"Improving our stock can also add a substantial 'price premium' to homes, with Rightmove research showing an improved EPC rating of F to C can add as much as £56,000 to the value of a home above local price growth,” the BHA added.