According to Natwest and S&P Global’s greener homes attitudes tracker, which is conducted on a quarterly basis and collates responses from 4,500 people, this is an increase of 15 per cent since last year and shows more people are keen to implement changes sooner rather than later.
The report added that around half of those surveyed did not feel the £400 discount offered on energy bills was sufficient to help them manage energy costs.
Those earning between £23,000 and £34,000 were most likely to think the government’s utility bill payment support was adequate, the report noted.
EPC’s star rising
Nearly half of consumers looking to buy a property in the next decade consider the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) a very important factor, a 10 per cent rise compared to last year.
The report said that Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber had the highest energy costs, with 63 per cent of homes in these areas having an EPC rating of C or below.
In London and South East half of homes have an EPC rating of C or below.
The report also noted an increase in people using green mortgage products, which rose from three per cent to seven per cent.
Natwest said that it was funding a series of greener home retrofit pilots for 10 customers across the UK. As part of the scheme it takes consumers from considering improvements to implementation.
The lender has also teamed up with Worcester Bosch and British Gas, as part of the Sustainable Homes and Buildings Coalition, to assess the EPC of their properties and install “appropriate solutions” to improve energy efficiency and cut emissions.
Green issues go mainstream
Lloyd Cochrane, head of mortgages at Natwest, said the results showed how sharp increases in energy bills and the cost of living had made energy efficiency “much more important to consumers’ everyday lives”.
He continued: “We launched the tracker last year to provide better insight into consumer sentiment in this area, informing our products and services and how we can best support customers.
“The data has also shown a marked increase in the importance of the EPC rating of a property when prospective homeowners are looking at buying a new home.
“As well as informing our support for customers these insights form part of our work across industry and our engagement with government to propose policies that can work positively to support consumers improve the energy efficiency of their homes.”
