According to a new survey from property firm Savills, the majority of property buyers are prepared to pay more for a home primarily using renewable energy. In fact, homes with heat pumps demand a 59% premium compared to regional averages.
This comes as households across the UK are seeing significant increase in household bills. The Government are encouraging switching to low-carbon solutions before 2035, with legislation changing and grants such as the new Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) for end users, all with the aim of cutting our reliance on fossil fuel sources.
Heat pumps are predicted to become the main source of low carbon heating in new homes, as the Government aims to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.
The graph below shows the average house values between 2019-2021.
Source: Savills using Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Land Registry data
Rural-Urban Heating
In urban areas, more than 5 out of 6 (84%) of homes rely on mains gas supply, compared to one third (34%) in rural areas. In these rural areas almost half (43%) are fuelled by oil.
North East is most reliant on gas, while London and the South West currently has the highest number of homes using ‘cleaner’ methods.
CO2 emissions from residential properties fell by 26% from 2004 to 2017. However, they rose by 9% from 2014 to 2020 according to Government data. With such a dependence on oil in rural buildings and gas in urban buildings, there really does need to be a more sustainable solution.
The graph below shows energy type by region in England and Wales for 2020.
Source: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities data
“It’s no great surprise that the vast majority of homes still use mains gas heating, but faced with increasing energy prices, homes that offer more cost-efficient monthly alternatives – such as homes with heat pumps – are climbing higher up buyers wish lists when searching for a new home.” - Lawrence Bowles, Savills residential research analyst.
“Rural communities, in particular, are heavily dependent upon oil for heating and domestic hot water, but as energy prices increase, and more people work from home during the winter, we are increasingly seeing buyers on the ground add energy efficiency to their search criteria. Rural buyers are increasingly on the lookout for homes with enough land to accommodate installing heat pumps on the property as they seek to replace older boilers in favour of greener, cleaner alternatives. We can expect to see this trend increase as the government provides further funds and support for heat pump installation.” - Andrew Perratt, head of country residential at Savills.
Add Heat Pumps to your next Development
If you are a Developer or house builder looking to move over to heat pumps over the next few years, look no further than Alto Energy. Alto Energy have a business model that will suit your needs and requirements, no matter how big or small the project may be. We have prepared a Developer journey to show you the steps of working with Alto Energy, and just how easy it can be. Add value to your new build homes, and prepare your customers for the future.
Alto Energy MCS Umbrella and Developer Journey
Contact Alto Energy To Find Out More
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