Tory MP writes to Chancellor to demand clarification on stamp duty exemption

Conservative MP Oliver Letwin has written to the Chancellor of Exchequer to clarify confusion over the definition of zero carbon for new houses.

In a letter to Alistair Darling sent this week Letwin, MP for Dorset West, said the exclusion of external renewables from qualifying as zero-carbon would make it 鈥渆xtraordinarily difficult for any significant number of homes to qualify for the stamp duty exemption鈥�.

Letwin added: 鈥淚 should be grateful if you could confirm鈥� whether this is the Treasury鈥檚 intention, or whether an error has been made in the drafting.鈥�

Letwin was responding to concern raised by sustainable consultant and blogger Nick Devlin, who has warned that the Code for Sustainable Homes definition 鈥渨ill be adjusted to reflect the Treasury鈥檚 flawed version鈥�.

In a blog post this week on his Devlin says: 鈥淭he Stamp Duty exemption was only ever a cheap piece of seemingly high profile policy that to me appears to have seriously backfired".

An online petition has also been launched on the Number 10 website to 鈥渞einstate the ability to use accredited offsite renewables to achieve the Treasury definition of zero carbon homes within the draft Statutory Instrument for stamp duty exemption and to reflect this is in the Code for Sustainable Homes鈥�. It was put up yesterday by Giles Frampton from Econstruction.

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