Lib Dems plan carbon saving kits for homes

Lib Dems plan carbon saving kits for homes

Homeowners could face a retrospective rise in stamp duty if they fail to install energy efficiency measures within a year of moving into their home, the Liberal Democrats propose today as they seek to fill "a yawning gap" in the government's climate change policies.

The requirement to introduce the carbon saving package may also apply whenever a homeowner remortgages, or seeks planning permission to improve a home. Private sector landlords could also be required to install the package whenever they let or re-let a property.

A targeted £2,000 subsidy would be available to introduce the energy-saving package, costed at between £5,000 and £10,000, which would cover combinations of loft, roof and floor insulation, draughtproofing and heating renewal.

Advertisement starts

---

---

Advertisement ends

With the local elections under way, the Liberal Democrats are eager to neuter the threat from David Cameron's green policies. The aim is to introduce the packages into 1m homes a year, ensuring that the entire housing stock is improved by 2050.

The government has a commitment to cut carbon emissions from homes by 60% by 2050, but Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat environment spokesman, says ministers do not have the policies to meet one of its important targets in its climate change programme.

Defending the need for an element of compulsion, the policy paper prepared by Mr Huhne and the party's local government spokesman, Andrew Stunnell, states: "German experience suggest that a voluntary scheme would generate enough demand to meet even ambitious targets for the first years of the programme. Subsequently, however, it is likely that owner-occupiers and tenants who are more resistant will cause a tail of unimproved properties unless there is some trigger for action."

In its defence, the government points out that it has tightened building regulations for existing homes, and that from June, as part of the delayed home information pack, all sellers will have to buy an energy performance certificate from a certified inspector setting out the energy efficiency grading of their home.

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006