The planned requirement for consequential improvements to dwellings when undertaking extensions and conservatories has been axed. The Government has scrapped plans for what was dubbed a ‘conservatory tax’ which would have required homeowners to make additional (potentially expensive) energy efficiency measures for home improvements, forcing them to pay for extra insulation or sign up to the Government’s “Green Deal”, which provides loans to install energy-saving insulation that must be paid back with interest.
There is little surprise the proposals have been scrapped. For someone replacing their windows which will improve energy efficiency, it is difficult to understand why they would then have to pay to have further energy efficiency measures implemented when the windows would already be improving efficiency. Of course, this means some people would decide not to make these home improvements at all, which would impact the construction industry as well.
Another key point of the consultation is the overall CO² maximum design targets have decreased from what was expected for 2013. The Government’s suggestion for dwellings is now a reduction of the 2010 CO² target by 8%.
Considerations need to be given to the economic impact changes to building regulations have.