Why reduce VAT?

By charging 20% VAT on all home repair, maintenance and improvement work the Government is exacerbating a number of serious social, economic and environmental problems.

Instead introducing a reduced rate of VAT for all home repair and improvement work is a simple single plan to relieve the country of many of these problems.

Economic growth

The UK economy is facing a weak recovery from the recent recession. Output in the construction industry shrunk faster than the economy as a whole during the recession and recent forecasts suggest there will be no significant sign of recovery in the industry until 2014. Successful trials in a number of EU countries strongly suggest a cut in VAT on home repair and improvement work would reap economic benefits for the UK.

Increased employment

More than a quarter of a million jobs have been lost in the construction sector since 2007 according to the Office for National Statistics. This is terrible news for the Government’s finances as well as for those individuals affected. Moreover, unless the industry can recruit and train sufficient people now, there will be a serious skills shortage in future years. We know from independent research that a cut in VAT on home repair and improvement work could create thousands of new jobs in the construction sector and the wider economy.

More homes

We are building fewer than half the number of new homes needed to match the rate of household growth in the UK. Therefore, it is shocking that there were over 700,000 empty homes in 2010 in England alone. Many require considerable repair work before they can be lived in and the high rate of VAT makes this a very costly activity for private landlords or local authorities who could otherwise renovate more existing properties to help ease the pressure on housing supply. By making home repair and improvement work more affordable, it would encourage the use of existing structures rather than continuing the urban sprawl and building on greenbelt land.

Greener homes and warmer homes

Existing homes contribute around 27% of the UK’s total CO2 emissions. There is a vast amount of work to be done if the UK is to meet the legally binding targets for reducing emissions. A simple, single cut in VAT on home repair and maintenance work would help millions of households to upgrade their homes to make them more energy efficient. Without help to reduce energy use, the number of households living in fuel poverty will continue to grow as they struggle to protect themselves against rising fuel prices.

Fewer cowboy builders

According to Trading Standards a staggering £170 million is stolen by rogue traders from unsuspecting homeowners across Britain each year, and they also cause significant damage to law-abiding businesses. Rogues traders flourish by evading VAT in order to offer a cheap deal. However, all too often, the deal comes without a proper written contract or any kind of paperwork meaning the enforcement of consumer rights is almost impossible if something goes wrong. Again, this simple, single action to cut VAT on home repair and improvement work to 5% would protect consumers and legitimate businesses by significantly reducing the competitive advantage of rogues traders.

Get involved

What can you do?

Get in touch with your MP

MPs are very good at raising the public profile of an issue and gathering much wider support through the media or during debates.

Why not write to your MP or visit one of their surgery sessions. We have provided a draft letter (Download, Word 26 KB) or email, which you can personalise and send to your MP.

If you don’t already know who your MP is or how to contact them, you can find out here.

Spread the word

Please share your support on Twitter and like the Cut the VAT campaign on Facebook to help us to reach out to the millions of people who could benefit from this change!

You can even show your support by pinning our Cut the VAT Twibbon to your Facebook profile picture.

Add the Cut the VAT campaign to your website

Help us share the facts and figures about the campaign with visitors to your website, by adding the following paragraph and the campaign logo.

Cut VAT now on all home repair and improvement work

Cutting VAT from the current rate of 20% to 5% for all home repair, maintenance and improvement work would benefit millions of UK households by eliminating rogue traders. The cut would help stimulate the economy and create thousands of new jobs in the construction sector. It would also help make hundreds of thousands of homes more energy efficient, lifting people out of fuel poverty and helping to meet the UK's carbon reduction commitments. Please show your support and visit the Cut the VAT campaign website to see what you can do.

Website: http://www.cutthevat.co.uk/