What impact does energy efficiency have on the value of your home?

Investing in improving the energy efficiency of a home is often viewed through a lens of comfort, or climate change. ‘It is too cold to comfortably use parts of my home in the winter’ (or summer, if they over heat) or ‘I want to reduce my carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels, because our planet is overheating and the legacy we’re leaving for our children and grandchildren is a bleak one’

Only more recently are homeowners waking up to the realisation that improved energy efficiency not only makes your home ‘better’ (easier and cheaper to heat, or cool, more comfortable and cleaner), but that it can also significantly increase its value.

For many years popular TV shows have reinforced messages encouraging homeowners to focus on aesthetic, often superficial improvements such as ripping out and replacing perfectly functional kitchens and bathrooms, in favour of something more ‘modern’, or ‘contemporary’.

Checkatrade.com estimate the average cost of a kitchen to currently be around £10,000, with a range of costs spanning from £5,000 to nearly £30,000.

Very little focus has historically been given to the benefits of improving the energy efficiency of a home. Though momentum has slowly been building and recent incentives like the disappointing ‘Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme’ combined with escalating energy prices and the visible impacts of the climate emergency have encouraged many to focus on how their home performs and look for improvements.

In April the energy price cap increased roughly 60% from £1,200, to nearly £2,000. Later this year, when the cap is reviewed again, average energy costs are forecast to exceed £3,300 annually. More than ever, we are becoming aware of the ‘cost of living crisis’ and increasingly looking for ways to ‘insulate’ ourselves against rising prices.

And ‘Insulating’ is the first energy efficiency measure we all need to consider. Reducing the amount of energy our homes need to heat them to a comfortable and healthy level, not only reduces CO2 and fuel bills, it is the necessary first step to pave the way for low carbon heating sources.

Does making my home more energy efficient increase its value?

Moneysupermarket.com indicated that improving energy efficiency can increase the value of your home by as much as 14% whilst a study from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Scottish Power suggests making your home more energy efficient can add £10,000 to its value. There is an increasing body of evidence to suggest - Yes, making my home more energy efficient makes it more desirable and therefore valuable.

The logic is easy to follow, if a home is more comfortable to live in, costs less to run and is better for the environment, then that added value will be realised in the asking price.

Written by Leigh Fairbrother, Head of Commercial. Leigh has over a decade of experience developing & delivering renewable and domestic energy efficiency projects with measurable environment, social and economic benefits for Social Housing Providers.

Find out more about the best ways to insulate your home.

Sources: 

Checkatrade: How much does a new kitchen cost to install?

The Guardien: UK energy bills ‘could hit more than £3,300 a year this winter’

Money Supermarket: Improving your home value through energy efficiency

The Guardien: Green upgrades could cut UK energy bills by £1,800 a year, finds study