博鱼体育集团

Key survey findings

• 76% of respondents rate a domestic electric vehicle charging point as more or equally important as it was a year ago.
• 35% rate rising energy costs as the biggest influence when buying an energy-efficient home
• Just 17% of homeowners plan to install a heat pump

Mitigating the impact of soaring energy bills is the main reason buyers would purchase an energy-efficient home, trumping both environmental and regulatory concerns, according to our latest sentiment survey.

Although the government鈥檚 鈥楨nergy Price Guarantee鈥� has placed a cap on the scale of recent energy price rises, average winter bills are still estimated to have almost .

Alongside the rising cost of borrowing, it means the energy performance of a home is now central to buyers鈥� decision-making.

Asked which factor was most likely to influence their decision to buy a more energy efficient home, 35% said rising energy costs (see chart).

鈥淲hile environmental concerns are a consideration for many home buyers, it is the record-breaking cost of energy that is dominating most buyers鈥� thinking at present,鈥� said Chris Druce, senior research analyst at 博鱼体育集团 Frank.

鈥淎lthough wholesale energy prices are expected to fall back later this year, it is unlikely that buyers鈥� mindsets will change quickly,鈥� Chris added.

The prospect of future environmental regulations affecting the value of inefficient homes was the second most popular response polling 20%, while 18% of respondents stated a preference to own a greener home and said, if necessary, they would pay more for it.

The survey also found that more than three-quarters of people (76%) thought having access to an electric vehicle charging point was either more or equally important as a year ago. E.

Boosting the value of a home

The energy efficiency of England鈥檚 housing stock has improved over time. However, despite the government鈥檚 stated ambition to , more than half of existing houses carry a rating of D or below.

While cost remains a barrier for some to make changes, improving your home鈥檚 EPC rating could increase its value by as much as 20%, analysis by 博鱼体育集团 Frank found.

Asked what improvements homeowners plan to make to improve the energy efficiency of their homes in our latest survey, half cited energy-efficient lightbulbs.

More substantive measures included fitting double or triple glazing; draught-proofing; and loft or roof installation, which all polled 38%.

Despite the government putting heat pumps at the centre of plans to decarbonise UK households 鈥揼as boilers will no longer be fitted in new-build properties from 2025 - just 17% of survey respondents said they intended to install one.

Underlining the scale of the challenge, the ONS calculated that as of March 2022 .

Our sentiment survey also found that cash and equity-rich buyers are looking to capitalise on their strong position in the UK housing market this year amid wider concerns over higher mortgage rates.

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