The latest information from NatWest’s Greener Homes Attitudes Tracker has shown increased urgency on the part of UK households to make improvements in the energy efficiency of their properties.
More than half of those surveyed indicated that rising prices were making them more likely to implement energy-efficiency measures. The quarterly index is based on responses from 4,500 people across the UK in the first quarter of 2022.
It also found that consumers planning such home improvements had brought their plans forward, with 22% (up from 16%) stating the work would be in the next 12 months.
Lloyd Cochrane, Head of Mortgages at NatWest, said: “One of the best ways of saving money on bills is to reduce the amount of energy that we need to use – therefore, helping people understand how to make their home more energy efficient can be a really effective way to help cut their bills, something that’s particularly important in the context of rising prices. It could also help to reduce their climate impact as homes account for 15pc of the UK’s carbon emissions.
The Greener Homes Attitudes Tracker is showing that message resonating with the public, and that’s only likely to grow in the coming months as cost of living pressures grow. It’s important that we continue to work across industry and government to support people understanding how they can make these changes, which can be expensive and complex to understand.”
Cost remained the greatest blocker to making improvements. Moreover, the proportion of households reporting cost as a barrier increased from 70% in Q4 2021 to 72%. However, people’s willingness to pay varied by the type of improvement proposed.
One of the most popular planned upgrades for UK homeowners is an electric car charging point, with half of homeowners (48%) saying they either already have one or will install one in the next 10 years – this proportion has risen from 44% in the last quarter alone. One-third (33%) of those planning to install an electric car charging point said they would prefer to pay for it upfront – around twice as likely as they were to versus other energy efficiency improvements such as air source heat pumps (only 14% preferred to pay upfront), double glazed windows (12%), and solar panels (19%).
The survey also found an increase in the number of renters who said that their household or landlord had made improvements to the environmental sustainability of the property since they had been living there (33% vs 29% in Q4 2021). However, the figures showed the continuing ‘Green Gap’ between rented and owned accommodation, with homeowners still more likely to have energy efficiency measures such as double-glazed windows (82% vs 74% of renters) or energy efficient lighting (69% vs 52% of renters), leaving renters potentially more exposed to higher outlays on heating their homes.
