Chancellor urged to cut building VAT

A coalition of industry stakeholders has urged chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling to reduce the rate of VAT levied on building and repair work from 17.5 per cent to five per cent in his budget speech on March 12th.

The Federation of Mater Builders (FMB) has announced that it has been joined by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Empty Homes Agency, the Bathroom Manufacturers Association and the National Home Improvement Council in the Cut the VAT coalition, which is lobbying for the change to help alleviate fuel poverty and reduce emissions by making it cheaper to undertake work to make homes more energy efficient.

A cut in this VAT levy would also help those looking to self build their homes by lowering costs.

In a separate statement the FMB criticised the government for its decision to "downgrade" the rank of the construction minister from minister of state, to parliamentary under secretary of state.

The FMB said giving the minister a lower rank would make policy co-ordination harder.


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