The Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has found that energy saving measures installed in houses could increase property values, on average, by about 14 percent with the increases rising to 38 percent in some parts of England.
An average home in the country could increase its value by more than £16,000 if the occupants improved their EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) from band G to band E or from band D to band B. In the North East, improved energy efficiency could increase this value by over £25,000 with the figure dropping slightly to £23,000 for homes in the North West.
The DECC report took into account over 300,000 property sales in England between 1995 and 2011 and is the most comprehensive research in this area to date. It indicates that energy efficiency is now a key factor influencing the sale price of property in England.
“We have long known the benefits of making energy saving improvements to the home, but this study is real evidence of the huge potential rewards” said the Energy and Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker. “Not only can energy efficient improvements help protect you against rising energy prices, but they can also add real value to your property. This Coalition is committed to helping hardworking families with the cost of living. The Green Deal is designed to do exactly that. The Green Deal is helping more people make these types of home improvements, reducing high upfront costs and letting people pay for some the cost through the savings on their bills. The Green Deal is a great option for anyone wanting to improve the look, feel and potentially the value of their home.”
Kevin McCloud, the broadcaster and co-founder of the Grand Designs Future Living home retrofit company added that although there are some 26 million homes in Britain, “most of them are about as well insulated as a rabbit hutch.” He said that they need immediate help to be made less wasteful.
“This timely report tells us what we suspected all along” Mr McCloud continued, “that people really value the well-insulated, energy-efficient home; that modest investment in measures to make our homes more comfortable, healthier and cheaper-to-run really pays off. The Green Deal is now maturing into a helpful way of financing a lot of the retrofit solutions around. Homeowners can now start to make these changes, alleviate the burden of high energy bills and improve the value of their prime asset.”
James Brooks from Brooks Estate Agents said that with fuel bills continuing to rise, buyers are becoming increasingly more conscious of energy efficiency with regard to prospective new homes and are therefore more willing to invest in a property if they know it will cost them less to run in the future.
“As such, we always try to advise our customers to consider the real S.A.L.E. value – Size, Aesthetics, Location and Efficiency – when buying or selling” he added.
The Coalition Government’s flagship energy efficiency initiative was introduced in order to help transform their homes by capitalising on these findings. The scheme helps households pay for energy efficiency measures with repayments spread over a period of time and paid back through electricity bills.
There has been some concern about the low-take up of the scheme in recent months but these findings indicate that the benefits of investing in energy efficiency measures are indeed real and tangible.
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