Only six households have benefitted to date from the stamp duty rebate for eco-homes announced in Budget 2007, according to figures provided in written answers last month to Conservative communities spokesmen Eric Pickles and Robert Neil by Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jane Kennedy. The Treasury says figures are “not yet available for 2008.”

Ms Kennedy said that the Treasury expects the numbers of qualifying transactions to rise as more properties eligible to claim the relief go on the market.
The Government believes that this tax relief will “help stimulate the market for new highly efficient technologies in homes, both for the fabric of the building and in the use of microgeneration, and sets a gold standard for green homes.”
Ms Kennedy points out that the Government is committed to conducting an interim review of the relief in 2010 which will “examine the effectiveness of the relief in stimulating the innovation necessary to ensure that all new homes are built to a zero-carbon standard from 2016.”

The government set aside some £15m to kick start the green relief scheme, which came into effect on 1 October last year.“These figures demonstrate the gulf between the government’s rhetoric on the environment and the reality,” shadow Treasury minister Justine Greening said  on 10 February. She pointed out that flats and maisonettes did not qualify for the relief. To meet the definition of ‘zero-carbon’, new homes must draw their electricity directly from local renewable sources. SB understands, Chancellor Alastair Darling is thought to be considering extending the relief to flats.