PROPERTY NEWS Zoe Dare Hall

Leaner LIVING

Energy efficiency in our homes will be the hot topic this autumn, finds Zoe Dare Hall

As the cost of living crisis bites in every aspect of daily life, cutting bills is on everyone’s mind – which chimes handily with the need to live more energy-efficiently too. Given temperatures hit the big 40 in the UK for the first time ever this summer, and devastating wildfires took hold that no one thought could happen in this country, it’s becoming ever harder to deny the impact of climate change and how we need to adapt the way we live.

Even property buyers who don’t need to watch every last penny are increasingly prioritising greener living as “a good thing to do”, says Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s global head of research. “Even if the payback isn’t rapid, it’s the right thing to do in terms of future-proofing their property,” he says. Developers, too, are increasingly aware that energy efficiency is not something they can ignore. “It can take five to seven years to see through a project to completion, so they have half a mind on what the regulations [regarding energy efficiency] will be by the end. They don’t want to get caught out,” says Bailey.

Luxury consumption is, by its nature, unsustainable, he adds. So how do you minimise its impact? The high-end travel industry is pushing the idea of travelling less and staying longer. In luxury property, “there’s a shift away from frippery and facilities that aren’t used, and more focus on longevity and use of materials that will last 100 years. There’s no point building a luxury development if it’s pulled down in 50 years. That doesn’t help anyone,” says Bailey, who thinks the recent UK stamp duty changes marked a sea change, and a move away from decadence towards something more sustainable.

The luxury sector, Bailey thinks, has “the potential to be a testbed” for green living. “There are boring things like insulation and building properties that require little energy usage, to the extras, such as clean air filtration, which is more about wellness and the enjoyable experience.” Indeed, the gap between running a new home versus a second-hand one has never been wider, says David Fell, senior analyst at Hamptons. “As energy efficiency creeps up government agendas of all colours, and the cost of heating and lighting a home becomes more expensive, new homes which come on day one with the most efficient appliances

INDEED, THE GAP BETWEEN RUNNING A NEW HOME VERSUS A SECONDHAND ONE HAS NEVER BEEN WIDER

24%

THE AMOUNT THAT THE GROSVENOR ESTATE HAS DRIVEN DOWN EMISSIONS

67%

OF BUYERS WANT A SUSTAINABLE HOME (STRUTT & PARKER)

COMING CLEAN Above: This four-bedroom Holland Park home, which has been future-proofed throughout, is £3.75m through Savills. Far left: Eccleston Yards in Belgravia is trialling a Circular Neighbourhood to reduce waste; this Fulham property, on sale for £3.49m through Strutt & Parker, is EPC rated B

and are on average twice as well insulated are increasingly attractive to buyers,” he says.

Hamptons’ analysis shows that you can run a new home for the same costs paid by owners of similarly-sized older homes a decade ago. “That gap looks set to widen, given it’s much harder and more expensive to upgrade second-hand homes retrospectively,” says Fell. “At the same time the technology going into new homes uses increasingly small amounts of energy as efficiency ratings are tightened.”

Daniel Taylor, head of sales at Savills in Notting Hill notes that, “Future-proofing a home, particularly in a time where the cost of living is rising, adds a certain sense of kerb appeal while offering longevity to buyers.” He adds that, “Integrated technology such as smart home systems and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) can certainly add value to a property as well as increasing a property’s saleability, particularly in London where pollution levels are higher.”

Agne Karuzaite, senior associate director, Strutt & Parker Chelsea agrees. “Buyers will often ask about the energy efficiency of homes they’re viewing, whether that’s because they’re driven by their own eco-consciousness or the ever-rising cost of energy. Sustainability is climbing up the ranks on buyers’ wish lists. Our research indicates that 67 per cent of those looking to move in the next five years say that it’s important their future home is already sustainable, giving increased value to homes that already have eco-tech built in.”

In its Housing Futtures survey, Strutt & Parker reports that the top desired sustainable

features are: double glazed windows, high insulation, energy-efficient heating materials, a smart themostat and solar energy. Meanwhile, the Grosvenor Estate shows that even old dogs can learn new tricks with its FUTURE-PROOFING decarbonisation programme, which has driven down emissions by 24 per cent in the last two

A HOME ADDS years and is heading towards being net zero.

KERB APPEAL In Belgravia’s Eccleston Yards, property owners, residents and businesses are trialling

WHILE OFFERING the idea of a Circular Neighbourhood, which LONGEVITY aims to stop waste being produced in the first place by promoting re-use, the sharing of TO BUYERS products and switching to more sustainable materials. This kind of collaboration drives innovation, comments Tor Burrows, Grosvenor’s executive director of sustainability and innovation, and “that will help us urgently transform how we make and manage places to create a climate-resilient future”. The new green language may seem alien. But once mindsets shift from thinking sustainability is nice to have to realising it’s a necessity, it will become second nature. L