Homeowners Eye Greener Homes, But Cost Remains Hurdle: NatWest Greener Homes Attitude Tracker

Homeowners Eye Greener Homes, But Cost Remains Hurdle: NatWest Greener Homes Attitude Tracker

(IN BRIEF) The latest Greener Homes Attitude Tracker by NatWest and S&P Global reveals that 66% of homeowners plan to make improvements to the environmental sustainability of their properties within the next ten years. While a high Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating remains essential for many, the primary barrier to such improvements is the high cost, cited by 74% of homeowners. On average, homeowners estimate that it would take 15 years for energy bill savings to offset the £34,500 installation cost for retrofitting sustainable features. Prospective homebuyers aged 35-44 consider an EPC rating of C or above as ‘essential’. NatWest’s insights aim to influence government policies supporting energy-efficient home initiatives.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 17-Aug-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — Our latest Greener Homes Attitude Tracker covering Q2 2023 has been published. You can take a look at the report’s key insights below and read the full report for more.

Insights from the latest tracker

• 66% of homeowners plan improvements to the environmental sustainability of their property in the next ten years, up from 63% in Q1.
• For homeowners not planning to make improvements in the next 10 years, the cost of the work (74%) was the biggest barrier, followed by the level of disruption it would cause (32%) and availability of financing options (29%).
• Homeowners estimate it would take an average of 15 years for the savings in regular energy bills to offset the estimated installation cost of £34,500 for retrofitting a typical UK home.
• 40% of prospective homebuyers looking to purchase a property in the next 10 years stated that a property’s EPC rating was a very important factor.
• Attitudes towards the importance of high EPC ratings varied widely by age with one-in-four prospective homebuyers aged 35-44 stating an EPC rating of C or above was ‘essential’, compared to less than one-in-seven of those aged 18-24.

Lloyd Cochrane, Head of Mortgages at NatWest said: “We know that cost remains a high barrier to homeowners when making these changes and that’s clearly unsurprising given the significant increase in cost of living.

“It’s important to note that we took the average of £34k from a range of installations however this varies widely depending on what a homeowner plans to install. However, we know there needs to be a change in making the options more accessible to our customers and wider homeowners across the UK.

“That’s why we’re leading industry wide work including our retrofit project – it informs our understanding of what we can do to help and future products that might assist homeowners in the process”

Disclaimer

The NatWest Greener Homes Attitude Tracker survey was first conducted in May 2021 and is compiled by S&P Global. The survey is based on monthly responses from 1,500 individuals in the UK, with data collected by Ipsos MORI from its panel of respondents aged 18-64. The survey sample reflects the true composition of the population to ensure the accuracy of the survey results.

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SOURCE: NatWest