One in four Brits make green home improvements

Thursday, 22, Mar 2007 04:53

One in four Brits have made environmentally-friendly improvements to their homes, a new study reveals.

Following the announcement of new environmentally-focused measures in Gordon Brown's Budget yesterday, the study from More Than shows many Brits put a high value on how green their homes are.

Seven in ten British homeowners say they want all new-build homes to be eco-friendly, and almost a fifth would pay extra for a home that was eco-friendly.

A third of Brits also say when they move home they are planning to make green home improvements to their new property.

Of this group 31 per cent would pay up to £500 for the improvements, 18 per cent plan to spend up £1,000 and ten per cent would spend more than £1,000. The top incentives for making home improvements were reductions in council tax and lower mortgage rates.

"It is great that consumers are embracing green measures and seeking better information about the eco credentials of their homes," commented Yvette Cooper, the government's housing minister.

"From this June every home that is bought and sold will have to have an Energy Performance Certificate [as part of the Home Information Pack] setting out A-G ratings on the carbon emissions and energy efficiency of the home and savings that can be made on bills.

"There is also great potential to link energy performance certificates with green mortgages where home buyers could get top up loans at preferential rates to complete energy efficiency improvements."

Mike Holliday-Williams, managing director of More Than, added: "It's encouraging to see that green living has become a priority amongst British homeowners as well as the government. Making new-build homes eco-friendly is a step towards making all home owners more environmentally aware."