The British Woodworking Federation Group

Consequential Improvements Scrapped

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Posted By
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09/01/2013

Responding to the calls of BWF and other leading construction lobby groups, the government has abolished plans to force some homeowners carrying out extensions, boiler or window replacements to make improvements to their existing property. The proposals had been dubbed a ‘conservatory tax’ by the press, even though most conservatories would not have been affected by such plans.

Consequential Improvements ScrappedLast year year, the Department for Communities and Local Government published a consultation paper which sought views on whether to require ‘consequential improvements’ to the energy efficiency of a dwelling when other defined building work was undertaken, such as (a) extensions or increases in habitable space (ie loft and integral garage conversions) and (b) the replacement of a boiler or a percentage of the home’s windows.

Government ministers considered the responses to the consultation at the end of 2012. The decision to scrap the proposed measures took into account research from The Energy Saving Trust that found that consequential improvements, even with Green Deal finance in place, would put off 38% of households from going ahead with building work that they were otherwise planning. Information from  AECOM focus groups found that the majority of the installers registered with Gas Safe Register or members of competent person schemes were very negative towards the idea of being responsible for informing homeowners of the proposed requirements. It was felt that the new plans would, in fact, discourage people from undertaking home improvements.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles confirmed in a ministerial statement that, “Having considered all the representations and evidence, including the public reaction, I can inform the House that we will not be going ahead with such regulatory proposals in any way at this point in time.”

BWF Chief Executive Iain McIlwee, welcomed the announcement:

"This is effective policy making, there is a good principal behind this, but the unintended consequences could have been devastating.  We pointed out in our original response that Consequential Improvements were never an effective and workable solution and had real potential to deter improvement works in an already difficult time. It would also have been a fresh burden on already overstretched Building Control Bodies.  So this is good news for joinery firms, but I am sure that it is a blow to the Green Deal."

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Member of Construction Products Association
National Specialist Contractors Council
Passive Fire Protection Federation
CITB
The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products