The freeze squeeze: Northwest homeowners moving to greener homes to save on energy bills

With Ofgem increasing household bills, we could see more people across the Northwest selling up and moving home in 2024. New research from premium housebuilder Redrow has revealed frustrations have reached an all-time high, with more than a quarter (31%) of North West homeowners now considering moving to a more energy efficient home in order to make savings on their bills.

More than half (57%) of homeowners admit they’re more worried about escalating energy bills than they were last year, with younger homeowners aged between 18 and 34 across the nation being three times as likely to consider moving to a more energy efficient home than their older counterparts, those aged 55 and over (54% vs. 16%).

Nationally, living in an energy efficient home continues to be a big priority year on year, with two thirds (67%) saying it is more important than a year ago, and a third (31%) say a low EPC rating is one of their biggest frustrations with their current house.

Love it or list it?

With energy bill increases (29%) and unexpected maintenance costs (20%) the top factors triggering home frustrations, cost-savvy Northwest homeowners are increasingly looking to go green. However, believing their house is too old to be energy efficient (29%) continues to be some of the biggest hurdles stopping homeowners from updating older properties.

This may be why a third (35%) say they would prefer to move into an energy efficient home, rather than trying to retrofit their current home with energy efficient features. When the time comes to move, nearly two fifths (39%) say they would opt for a new build specifically due to its energy efficient features.

In addition, a fifth (21%) saying they are more likely to consider installing a heat pump than they were a year ago. Interestingly, only 14% of Northwest homeowners said they were looking to install solar PV panels. Double glazing (79%), loft insulation (71%) and energy efficient lighting such as LED (48%) are the efficient features that are most commonly installed or looking to be installed by renovators.

Green with envy

Expect to hear even more about how your friends and family are looking to adopt a sustainable lifestyle in 2024, with cost reductions seemingly a desirable win for homeowners. In fact, a fifth (19%) of homeowners admit they are envious of their friends and family who have lower energy bills.

Premium housebuilder Redrow has seen this trend play out across its developments since launching its new eco-efficient homes earlier this year. The homes come with sustainable features such as air source heat pumps and underfloor heating as standard on the ground floor in detached homes, and are a key part of the housebuilder’s transition to net zero.

James Holmear, Director, at Redrow, said: “Today’s new figures clearly show that people’s concerns about energy have not gone away this year and in fact for many Britons, they are more pressing than ever. It’s no surprise therefore to see so many people considering a new home. With the average new build homeowner already saving £135 a month on energy bills1 , Redrow customers benefit even more thanks to our energy efficient features like air source heat pumps, helping households across the country reduce the cost of their bills.

“The number of people visiting our developments with energy efficient features at the top of their priority list has increased, and we’ve launched our EPC calculator tool across all our customer experience suites so homeowners can see first-hand how much they could save in a Redrow home against their current home.”

Redrow has seen an upwards trend of energy-efficient features becoming increasingly popular with homebuyers. Eco-Electric homes are available on all new and upcoming developments across the country. For more information, please visit: www.redrow.co.uk/energy-efficiency