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Green property features less important amid cost of living crisis

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
09/08/2022

Buyers are still interested in green property features, but are they willing or able to pay for them?

Environmental features are less important than other factors to prospective homebuyers amid the cost of living crisis, said Moneypenny.

The call handling and live chat company analysed calls for its estate agent clients to see when eco-credentials were mentioned. It looked for terms such as ‘solar panels’, ‘ground source heat pumps’, and ‘energy performance certificates’ among others.

It found that sustainability concerns, while increasing in overall mentions, rose more slowly than during the previous year, as they have started to take a back seat compared to other issues.

One example was heat pumps, which saw a huge 200% increase in mentions in 2019/20, but a fall of 28% in 2021/22.

Mentions of solar panels fell 17% in the last year, compared to a 46% increase the previous year. And mentions of energy performance certificates dipped 7% in the last 12 months.

Bucking the trend

The one eco-property feature that bucks this trend is BEV car chargers, with enquiries about these continuing to increase, by 64% from 2021-22.

Joanna Swash, group CEO of Moneypenny, said: “We were surprised by the reduction over the last year in perspective buyers’ interest in eco features when enquiring about a property.

“Eco features typically come with a cost premium, so our data would suggest consumers are willing to forgo these features as the cost-of-living crisis affects their purchasing power.”