Proposed landfill tax changes “threaten viability” – HBF

The government’s proposed increase to landfill tax would “threaten the viability” of housing projects, leading to fewer affordable homes and compromising the government’s housing ambitions, the Home Builders Federation has warned.

HBF has urged ministers to rethink its plans for landfill tax which include transitioning to a single tax rate by 2030.

Currently, there are two rates of landfill tax: the standard rate priced at £126.15 per tonne and the lower rate, broadly applying to inert, less polluting materials, at £4.05 per tonne.

In its consultation, closing on July 21, the government proposes to remove the lower rate. It stated in the consultation paper that in moving to a single rate of tax, “an escalator will be applied to the lower rate until it meets the standard rate in 2030”.

In the consultation, the government explained that “many materials” subject to the lower rate, including rocks and soils, “have the potential to be recycled and reused, which would reduce our reliance on scarce natural resources”.

It also stated that the notable gap between the lower and standard tax rates “also provides a perverse incentive to misdescribe standard rated waste as lower rated, to evade tax”.

But …