Home Sustainability Credentials Set To Be A Buyer Deal Breaker

Homebuyers will expect discounts on properties with poor energy ratings in the future, says Abode2.

Property portal Right Move has quizzed over 9,000 homeowners, landlords and tenants. The property portal expects many more buyers to negotiate discounts based on poor EPC ratings, to factor in costs of making green improvements – but it could take some years to happen.

Right now, however, “there is a lack of understanding about what improvements to make and minimal financial incentives for people to act now.”

But there is a clear shift towards more eco-conscious house-hunting underway; green features such as solar panels and heat pumps are climbing the homeowner rankings.

In addition, there are now 73% more green terms such as “sustainable” and “low carbon” being used by agents as selling points in property descriptions compared with the start of 2020.

A recent study by Aviva insurance reached similar conclusions, recording a sharp increase in the number of people who said they would consider the energy efficiency of their next home compared with those who said they considered it with there current or previous property.

Strutt & Parker’s Head of Regional Estate Agency, Kate Eales, likens the current sustainability trend to how decent internet access quickly became a need rather than want for most house-hunters. “Where poor broadband became a common deal-breaker in recent years, good sustainability credentials are rising up the consideration list, especially in the face of rising energy prices,” she says.