last updated 13th July 05
By 4ecotips

EST research proves point

Something which the UK National Home Improvement has advocated for years has been endorsed by the Energy Saving Trust new research which is that Council Tax breaks would convince consumers to adopt more environmentally friendly lifestylesay.

The report, “Changing climate, changing behaviour: delivering household energy saving through fiscal incentives”, main findings suggest council tax and stamp duty land tax (SDLT) rebates are the tax incentives most likely to encourage consumer action, and would also be the policy shifts which could benefit the largest number of householders.

The report reveals that were a quarter of the UK's homes to take up an incentive linked to council tax, nearly £10 billion would be saved in lifetime energy bills and nearly one million tonnes of carbon a year could be saved.

And, were the same number to take up an incentive linked to SDLT, over 60,000 tonnes of carbon could be saved a year and householders would cut nearly £650 million from their energy bills over the lifetime of the measures.

Of the measures which could improve at-home energy efficiency, nearly half of householders surveyed said they would be 'quite or very likely' to install cavity wall insulation if they were offered a 75% rebate of the cost of the measures.

Philip Sellwood, the EST’s chief executive, says: “Reducing household energy consumption is a key factor in the UK meeting its climate change commitments but current policies are simply not providing consumers with the incentives to change their behaviour. This report reveals for the first time the tax incentives that would be most likely to inspire action and the level they would need to set at to be convincing."

Elliot Morley, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, said: “The Government is prepared to consider a wide range of options that may help us meet the challenge of cutting carbon emissions from people's homes, including the potential positive effect of tax incentives on consumer awareness of and demand for better energy efficiency.

“More than half of our total target cuts in carbon emissions have to come through greater energy efficiency in the home, so the Energy Saving Trust's report is a welcome contribution to the current debates on the Energy Efficiency Innovation Review and our review of the UK Climate Change Programme.”