According to NatWest’s Greener Homes Attitude Tracker, which ran from April to June, the proportion of homeowners planning to make green improvements had reached a record high of 25% since the report launched in 2021.
The report found that there was a strong rebound in the second quarter of this year from the first quarter of this year, when only one in five said they were planning on making upgrades.
It stated that, on average, the proportion of those with plans for upgrade in the next 10 years was broadly unchanged, at 65%, compared to the same period last year.
The importance of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) has slipped down the priority list for buyers, with 42% of those looking to buy in the next decade saying the EPC was a ‘very important factor’.
This fell behind the amount of local green space and access to public transport, which it was above in the prior quarter, and rounded out the top 10 ‘very important’ factors.
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Fifth of homeowners would consider a green mortgage
Looking at green mortgages, one in five adults surveyed said they would consider taking out a green mortgage.
The report added that around 4% have already made the switch to a green mortgage.
However, 13% said they did not know what a green mortgage was and 64% said they were not thinking of switching to this kind of product.
Income still a barrier to green improvements
NatWest found that while two-thirds of homeowners have plans for sustainability-related improvements in the next 10 years, this fell to around 50% in the lowest income group.
This compares to 78% of those in the highest income group who said they would make green improvements in the next 10 years.
This shows that cost is still the “biggest barrier” to making green improvements.
Electric car charging points and solar panels were the most popular features in the next decade, at 34% each.
Around one in 10 people were looking at installing a heat pump in the next 10 years, a rise from 7% who planned to do so in the next year.
Almost three-quarters of homeowners said they didn’t have plans to improve the environmental sustainability of their property by 2035.
The principal barrier, cited by half of respondents, was upfront cost, and 38% said they were reluctant to take on debt to fund the work.
Nearly a third pointed to the level of disruption work would cause and over a quarter pointed to the availability of financing options.
Around 18% of those that did not have plans for sustainability-related home improvements in the next 10 years said it was a blocker.
