Modular housebuilder tells chancellor needs more government support
The chairman of modular housebuilder TopHat has written to the chancellor urging him to scrap stamp duty on homes with the highest energy efficiency ratings.
Carl Leaver has published his letter to Jeremy Hunt ahead of this week鈥檚 Autumn Statement in which he suggests making Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) A-rated homes exempt from stamp duty.
He said zero stamp duty for EPC A homes would have 鈥渘egligible鈥� cost to the government but would 鈥渢urbo-charge鈥� the volumetric housing sector.
Stamp duty raised 拢15.4bn for the Treasury last year but currently just 0.2% of homes are rated EPC A.
鈥淲e need growth. We need more houses. We need to cut carbon. Achieving these three objectives is challenging and many solutions which help with one will often have negative consequences for the others,鈥� Leaver said.
鈥淰olumetric modular housing鈥eeds government support to get over the hump of broadscale acceptance and achieve the scale which will enable it to make a meaningful contribution to solving the housing crisis.鈥�
>>See also: Could stamp duty reform be the answer to making UK homes net zero?
>>See also: More government support needed for industry to meet MMC housing targets, expert tells peers
He added: 鈥淲ith our current traditional housebuilding sector, there is no chance we鈥檒l be able to build 300,000 homes a year needed to alleviate the UK鈥檚 housing crisis.
The majority (78%) of UK consumers would pay more for an energy-efficient home, according to a .
Last month, Leaver told a Built Environment Committee hearing that it would be impossible to build 300,000 homes each year 鈥渨ithout industrialisation of housebuilding鈥�.
Leaver also called for 10% of the Affordable Homes Programme to be ringfenced for volumetric housing.
TopHat, which launched in 2019 with 拢75m of funding from Goldman Sachs, received a further 拢70m backing from investors including Persimmon and Aviva earlier this year.
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