NHIC backs call for 5% VAT on renovation
13th September 2016

The National Home Improvement Council has joined the call to cut the VAT to 5% for property renovation and repair to stimulate UK businesses after the Brexit referendum.

Executive Director Anna Scothern has written to key government ministers asking that they take positive action to and support businesses for at least the period during the Article 50 negotiations.

She said “NHIC members are optimistic about the future and are keen to learn more about timescales and what Brexit will look like, but in the short term we wanted to draw government’s attention to the independent report produced less than 12 months ago by Experian which demonstrates significant advantages to UK businesses alongside improvements in homeowner and tenants quality of life through a measured reduction in VAT from the current 20% to 5% on all housing renovation and repair works.

“The Experian Report ‘Cut the VAT’ shows that a targeted reduction in VAT of 15% could provide a huge economic stimulus of more than £15 billion over a five-year period and could also create more than 42,000 full time construction jobs and an additional 53,000 jobs in the wider economy.”

The NHIC believes that while the numbers would need to be reviewed within post-Brexit parameters, they are so compelling that at this time of national uncertainty government could proactively stimulate and support UK businesses, the wider economy and improve UK families living standards through adopting a measured cut in VAT focussed on housing renovation and repair works.

Reducing VAT on renovation and repair works is not an untested philosophy; Similar VAT reductions have resulted in an increase in consumer demand and employment in both the Isle of Man and the Netherlands, says the organisation.

The full Experian report can be viewed at www.nhic.org.uk/CUTtheVAT