Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, a London estate agency, also says that while many homebuyers will value the longer-term saving an energy efficient home can bring, they are unlikely to pay a considerably higher sum because the property has improved on its EPC rating.
An owner-occupier property rated A or B carries a house price premium of 1.7 per cent when compared to a D-rated home, according to analysis in August from Nationwide.
“The real added value comes from what you do to the home to improve energy efficiency,” von Grundherr says.
Lee Martin, head of UK for new build sales platform Unlatch, agrees that if an improved energy efficiency rating has been achieved by the addition of a new boiler or double glazing, for example, this would add value in the eyes of a buyer.
“It saves them the time and inconvenience of doing it themselves,” he adds.
“Smart boilers, solar panels and other greener energy features are far more commonplace in today’s market and are only expected to become more prominent as we move forward.”
Meanwhile James Forrester, managing director of Birmingham estate agency Barrows and Forrester, says that homebuyers in some regions are prepared to pay as much as £20,000 more for a property with an above average band score.
But Forrester also says that for most buyers, the energy efficiency of a property will still come second to the location, size and overall feel of a home.
The future effect of energy efficiency on the market
Whether poor energy efficiency will affect a property’s value in the future is entirely dependent on what happens to properties, or borrowing on properties, which have poor energy ratings, says Jackson at SDL Surveying.
Although green mortgages can typically offer preferential rates, they are more niche than norm, while four in 10 homes have a band C energy rating, according to the government.
But Bajri says CSS is seeing more demand from consumers to better understand the energy efficiency of their homes.
“Innovative lending products, coupled with clarity on government incentives and enhanced market recognition, can make a real difference in improving energy efficiency in homes.
“This will in turn stimulate change and support comparable data, which would enable the market to start to price-in the added value of energy-efficient assets and create the value difference between low and high energy efficiency.”
Chloe Cheung is a features writer at FTAdviser
