Recommendation 30

We support and reiterate the Green Finance Taskforce recommendation that the Government should pilot a stamp duty rebate for homeowners that improve the efficiency of their homes within the first year of purchase. We recommend that the Government work with the financial sector and major landlords, including local authorities and other social landlords, to stimulate renovation through the introduction of green mortgages, green finance and low cost loans. These instruments would help to address the barriers to energy efficient renovation and retrofit in the form of high upfront costs of energy efficiency measures. The Government should consider how the national infrastructure bank could be used as a vehicle to finance energy efficiency given the scale of success achieved in Germany through its state funded low interest loan scheme.