A senior banking figure has called for Stamp Duty rebates on property purchases to help create greener homes as research shows that Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are becoming more important for buyers.
Lloyd Cochrane, head of mortgages at Natwest, has suggested that such changes could encourage people to make their homes greener by retrofitting them with new insulation after purchase, helping the Government with its net zero ambitions.
He told City AM: “This is why we are calling for a Stamp Duty rebate, allowing households to reclaim the cost of their retrofit against their stamp duty in a two-year window after the purchase.”
Cochrane added that this policy would only work if more people are trained to retrofit homes and supply chains for essential energy efficiency materials are unclogged.
It comes as the bank’s latest Greener Homes Attitude Tracker, found that the cost of making homes more energy efficient remains the biggest barrier to home improvements, cited by 71% of homeowners.
To prospective homebuyers, the EPC rating of properties grew in importance throughout 2022, according to Natest.
Its research showed 41% of those looking to purchase a property in the next 10 years stated that the EPC rating was a “very important” factor, up from 33% a year before.
This also moved it ahead of “amount of local green space” in the homebuyer property rankings and level with both “levels of noise pollution” and “air quality’.”
A fifth of those looking to buy a property in the next 10 years said they considered an Energy Performance Certificate rating of C or above an "essential" property feature, according to the report, up from 17% a year earlier, while 22% of households that moved in the past 12 months stated that getting a higher EPC rating was a factor.
The most important factors remained the cost and location of the property.
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Now that sounds like a great idea !
it would certainly encourage a buyer to consider "greener" properties. Stamp Duty does need reform especially the brackets etc
I suspect this will end up being an increase in stamp duty for D rating and below rather than a discount for C and above. Council Tax will go the same way.
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