Since Brexit, UK has total freedom to use a differential VAT regime to address the climate emergency.
UK construction industry produces 40% of our total emissions; initial embodied carbon can account for 75% of lifetime emissions. Retrofitting is carbon-efficient but the current VAT regime privileges new build over refurbishment.
The government could also incentivize retrofit by removing the liability for VAT from all energy-efficiency products and simplify the processing for claiming back.
We have launched a petition aimed at creating a tax incentive to favour retrofit instead of demolition and new build.
