More Incentives Needed for Greener Homes – Rightmove

Almost eight out of 10 homeowners and landlords (78%) would feel motivated to make energy efficient improvements if they brought cheaper bills, according to a report from property portal, Rightmove.

The cost of energy has also led to one in five first-time buyers and tenants regarding energy efficiency as a major factor in their house hunting. But Rightmove’s second Greener Homes Report, says that energy-saving improvements are expensive, and that it isn’t always easy to tell which will make an impact on fuel bills.

The report asked thousands of homeowners and landlords about the challenges of creating a greener home. The portal is calling for more government incentives to encourage green improvements, such as such as electric car charging points and solar panels. These could be in the form of stamp duty rebates, grants or other tax breaks.

The government’s current target is for homes to reach an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of C by 2035. However, Rightmove says that 60% of homes for sale on its site currently have an EPC rating of D or below.

According to Tim Bannister from Rightmove “It’s clear that the current incentives aren’t yet big enough to make people sit up and take notice, and even the incentives that do exist aren’t easy to find out about.”

He added that while green improvements can enable sellers to ask a premium for their homes, “people need to know what to do, in what order, why they are doing it, and what benefits it will bring.

“Our analysis does show that our housing stock is going greener, but more needs to be done to speed it up,” he said.

Read more about the report on the Rightmove website.

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