When will buyers start warming to energy ratings?

Despite rocketing energy prices, there remains a reluctance amongst home owners and buyers to face the inevitability of the upward trend continuing.

Buyers will discuss running costs of properties they are buying, but it’s rare that anyone takes enough interest to look closely at the EPC. The fact is that running costs rarely feature as a priority when it comes to buying a new property. However, what is likely to be considered a deterrent is a property that comes with a green deal loan attached to it. And homeowners who sign up to the Green Deal and then want or need to sell, will face the prospect of having to “sell” an encumbered property.

I think that, in time, the Green Deal will become a mainstream option, and take-up will increase. But not before there’s more clarity and a raft of problems have been ironed out. And maybe fuel prices have to rise even more before homeowners can see the benefits of substantial investment in energy saving technologies.

Meanwhile, we are seeing a wider appreciation of the benefits of introducing low-cost energy-saving home improvements. Immediate changes that homeowners can make can be as small as using low energy light bulbs, insulation in the roof, draft proofing of windows and doors, extra lagging on the hot water cylinder, a thermostat on the hot water cylinder, and thermostatic radiator valves. All these are extremely effective and don’t involve large financial outlay.

And while it’s hard to make the case for upgrading an old boiler before it’s come to the end of its life with one that will be more economical, homeowners are certainly more discerning when replacements are essential, looking at all the options, including wood burners with back boilers, or more generally bio-mass boilers. If windows need replacing, homeowners are much more likely to consider double glazing than they would have been a decade ago.

So while there’s a great deal of scepticism surrounding the Green Deal, green issues are very much more on the radar of both home owners and house buyers. A quick glance at the roof landscape will reveal a growing panorama of solar panels; and our appetite for Agas has subsided due to their high running costs.

My advice to homeowners would be to look at introducing as many low cost energy saving improvements as possible, taking advantage of any grants that are available. If you’re making improvements to the property generally, take the opportunity to incorporate energy saving elements such as cavity wall insulation, double glazing, solar panels, and boiler upgrades where appropriate – it’s the most cost effective time for increasing energy efficiency. If you’re undertaking a large scale project, consider internal insulation, and ground source or air source heat pumps. And depending on where you’re situated, you could use a wood chip boiler for which there are good grants and healthy paybacks, especially if you have your own wood and the ability to store and dry it.

Whatever the future of the Green Deal, one thing’s for certain, the energy efficiency of property will become increasingly important to property buyers as the 21st century progresses, to the extent that a very low EPC rating will become a form of blight.