Home owners should be incentivised to carry out energy efficiency work when Scotland’s replacement for stamp duty comes in, CIH Scotland has said.

CIH urged the government to use the changes to tackle energy inefficiency in the private sector, a "much greater challenge" than controlling the social rented sector.

The body made the points when responding to the Scottish Government's consultation on the proposed Scottish Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Alan Ferguson, Director of CIH Scotland and Chair of the Existing Homes Alliance Scotland, said: "We know that energy efficiency standards in the social rented sector can be strongly influenced by setting minimum standards which are then the subject of regulation. But it's a much greater challenge to tackle energy efficiency in the private sector and, in particular, to get to a point where home owners really take notice of and value energy efficiency. We need to find ways of making energy efficiency something which sellers highlight and purchasers are attracted by. So basing at least a proportion of the new tax on the energy performance rating of the property can be part of this process of what the sustainable housing consultation refers to as financial market transformation. We know that lower value properties will be exempt from the new tax, but this leaves very significant scope for using the tax to incentivise energy efficiency work. This can then contribute not only to reducing carbon emissions but also to tackling fuel poverty, which is an issue across all housing tenures."

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(NE)