The British Property Federation (BPF) has called on the Government to make better use of the Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs) scheme, designed to reimburse landlords for making existing buildings ‘greener’.

Speaking at a recent UK Green Building Council ‘Dragon’s Den’ event, the BPF joined organisations including Friends Of The Earth and the Empty Homes Agency to make a case for one type of incentive scheme to help ‘green’ the country’s building stock.

ECAs currently exist to encourage energy efficiency investment by the private sector in plant or machinery. The BPF believes the problem is that they do not cover investment in the actual fabric of buildings, despite the fact that this is where the most significant savings may lie.

Speaking at the event, Andrew Teacher, BPF spokesman, said: “The scope of ECAs must be expanded. In many cases, improvements to the building’s fabric – such as insulation or glazing - will hold the key to improving energy efficiency, particularly in minimising waste heat. Without incentives, many of the kinds of improvements necessary would take too long to offset against the savings they would create, which would be felt mainly by tenants.”