First eco-home free from stamp duty

The government has exempted the first eco-home from stamp duty after it met its strict guidelines for sustainable housing. Housing minister Yvette Cooper viewed the UK's first zero-carbon home yesterday and awarded it a stamp duty exemption certificate.

The two-bedroom home has been built by Kingspan Offsite, using energy-efficient building methods and makes full use of renewable and sustainable energy technologies. Its fabric is insulting and air-tight and uses daylight to cut down on lighting costs during the day, solar panels to create energy and is installed with water-efficiency devices.

The home, the first to meet the government's code for sustainable homes, is part of the BRE Offsite 2007 exhibition in Watford. Visiting the site, Ms Cooper called for a "complete revolution" in the design and construction of houses to cut carbon emissions. "A quarter of carbon emissions come from our homes. That's why zero-carbon homes are so important," she said.

The government wants all new homes to be carbon neutral by 2016, although those within the building industry question whether this will be possible. Gordon Brown wants to build eco-towns across the UK, providing up to 20,000 environmentally-friendly homes.