The Liberal Democrat housing manifesto pledge fails to address the urgent need to retrofit the UK's existing housing stock to make it greener and more energy efficient, warned the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB said: "It is very disappointing that the Lib Dems housing pledge fails to mention anything about the need to make the UK's existing 26 million homes greener and more energy efficient. The retrofitting of the existing housing stock is a potential new annual market worth between £3.5 and £6.5 billion which could result in the creation of thousands of much needed jobs in the building sector if the right incentives are put in place."


The FMB believes Lib Dem incentives to bring 250,000 empty homes back into use are welcome but a bigger boost for the entire building sector would have been a proposal to cut VAT for energy efficient improvements to existing homes. The firm said that such a measure would help not only kick-start the building industry but help the thousands of people who are currently struggling to pay their energy bills.

Mr Berry concluded: "The FMB hopes the Lib Dems will link up its entire housing policies so that it has an holistic approach to tackling the current housing crisis rather than what appears to be a disjointed housing manifesto pledge."

(CD/GK)