The Construction Products Association has called on the government to back the industry’s environmental strategy by offering householders tax concessions on low-energy devices.

The CPA outlined its demands in a letter to chancellor Gordon Brown ahead of his pre-Budget report.

Roy Harrison, CPA president, said concessions were necessary to ensure that high costs did not discourage people from complying with environment-friendly policies, and he said householders were in particular need of support.

He said: “Although regulations can ensure new buildings adopt up-to-date energy-efficiency standards, the real challenge lies in making the existing stock more efficient.”

Harrison cited high efficiency boilers as a product whose cost could deter buyers. He warned that the government needed to offer VAT concessions “to at least 5%” on installation if people were not to be deterred from purchasing them.

Harrison also called for tax concessions aimed at bringing more brownfield sites back into use. He said the government’s proposed derelict land tax credit would be insufficient to encourage development.