UK ministers resist calls to reduce VAT on green home improvements

MPs and builders want tax cut included in government strategy to cut emissions from home heating

Ministers are resisting calls to reduce VAT on green home improvements, despite pleas from MPs and builders, as they prepare to set out a national strategy for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from home heating.

Heating Britain's homes accounts for about 14% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, and that number has barely budged in the past decade. This year, ministers scrapped the green homes grant, a scheme to subsidise insulation and low-carbon heating systems, after only six months. This left the UK with no plan to bring homes into line with the government's commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.