How Your Home’s Energy Efficiency Can Impact The Property Value

While looking at ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home is good for the environment, what can you, as the homeowner or landlord, benefit from? 

Aside from cutting down on energy usage, thus cutting your energy bills, making the changes and improvements to a home to improve the energy efficiency and therefore the EPC rating can have a positive impact on the value of your home. In this blog, we explain why and how. 

The Link Between An EPC Rating & A Property’s Value 

Your EPC rating is something buyers and investors will consider when viewing your property for sale. This creates a direct link between the current energy efficiency rating of the building and how much buyers will be willing to pay to own the property, in its current condition. This is because buyers will often want to avoid having to carry out such work themselves, and instead will look to purchase homes that have already undergone the necessary works to boost their energy efficiency and achieve an EPC rating that the UK government currently recommends for domestic properties in the UK. 

Savills can back these claims with research they conducted in 2022. Finding 71% of home buyers consider EPC ratings to be important in their decision making. With almost a third (32%) stating that they place more importance on EPC ratings than they did a year ago.

At this current time, the UK government has set a goal for all homes in the UK to achieve an EPC rating of C or above by 2030, giving homeowners and landlords various incentives to make this happen. 

How Much Value Could You Add To Your Property?

While there are currently no limitations to the sale of properties with a low EPC rating, it is something to consider if you are planning to sell your property. Whether you are a landlord or are currently a homeowner residing in the building, according to research by estate agents and mortgage providers, moving your property’s EPC band up by just one position could add value to your property. 

In fact, according to research by Knight Frank (2022), a global real estate consulting firm, there’s the potential for a value increase of up to 20%! Which would make a considerable difference to the asking price of your property if put on the housing market. 

Increasing your home’s EPC rating is certainly something to consider if you are hoping to make the most out of the sale of your property. By simply increasing the EPC rating from a D to a C , Knight Frank found on average an additional 3% was added to the value of the property. This equated to the equivalent of £9,003 based on the average resale value. 

With an unpredictable energy market and the rising cost of living it’s not hard to understand why so many property buyers are seeking homes that will help to keep their bills down. Therefore, homeowners and landlords should consider making the necessary changes to a property in order to bring their property up to the desired standard of the housing market. 

How to increase your EPC rating 

So, how can you increase your property’s EPC rating? It’s not all about installing the latest technology and gadgets. Some simple, cost-effective measures include:

Insulating your loft: This is a relatively cheap and easy way of improving your home’s energy efficiency.

• Upgrading your boiler: A more efficient boiler will lead to lower heating bills and a higher EPC rating.

• Installing double glazing: This can significantly reduce heat loss and improve your home’s energy efficiency. 

• Switching to LED light bulbs: LED bulbs use less energy and have a longer lifespan, ultimately contributing to a higher EPC rating. 

Accessing the ECO4 Grant 

While this all sounds relatively straightforward, there’s certainly a cost that comes with making such home improvements. This is why the UK government has introduced the ECO4 Scheme, designed to support low-income households and landlords access grants in order to make the changes required to improve the energy efficiency of a property. 

At Eco Providers we are a government-backed and trusted company that will provide tailored heating and insulation upgrades, including the retrofitting of entire homes for those who are eligible for ECO4. Not only will our team conduct the upgrades, we will support you in accessing the grant and carrying out a no-obligation survey of your property to identify the best improvements to make to your home to save you the most money and future proof your home against an unpredictable energy market. 

To find out more and to check your eligibility apply online with us now.