I for one am very relieved that the government appears to be doing a swift U-turn on the introduction of the 鈥渃onservatory tax鈥�.

While the consequential improvements measure in the proposed revisions to Part L makes perfect sense, now is simply not the right time to be introducing it. Anything that appears to increase the cost of home improvements is very unwise.

With new housebuilding struggling to gain momentum, private home improvement and extension projects are accounting for a rising percentage of available work for builders, merchants and manufacturers: putting this at risk would be hugely damaging.

The time to introduce this measure is when the Green Deal is widely recognised and understood. At the moment, the message received by householders is clearly that the conservatory tax will increase the cost of any home improvement projects, making it far too easy for such projects to be delayed or cancelled.

Mark Oliver, managing director of aircrete manufacturer H+H

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