Builders want VAT reduced

The government should reduce VAT to 5 per cent for enegry- saving measures installed in homes and businesses under its flagship “green deal” scheme, it has been urged.

More than two dozen organisations, including the British Property Federation, have called for an across-the-board 5 per cent VAT rate for the green deal, instead of 20 per cent, which they say is needed to ensure take-up of the programme to reduce carbon emissions from buildings and cut fuel bills.