"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."
40% of consumers looking to buy a property in the next decade considered a property's EPC rating a very important factor – a 10 percentage point increase year on year.
Almost two thirds (68%) of UK homeowners now plan to upgrade their property over the next 10 years in a bid to reduce energy bills, up from 52% last summer.
The research found that prior to the Government’s recent announcement on the energy cap, half of people in the UK (50%) didn’t feel the £400 discount was a sufficient response to help them manage mounting energy costs.
The survey meanwhile showed a continued steady increase in the use of green banking products. One in ten reported already having green savings or investments, up from 6% a year ago, with a similar rise in the uptake of green mortgages (7% from 3%).
Research from Citizens Advice has shown that annual savings would total £8.1 billion per year if all homes were upgraded to an EPC rating of C. For those in the least efficient homes, this would equate to nearly £1,000 per year per household. At the moment people living in Wales, the West Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber face the highest energy costs. Almost two thirds (63%) of homes in these areas have EPC ratings below band C. Households in London and the South East are most likely to be in a better position, but more than 50% of homes in these regions still have EPC ratings below C.
Lloyd Cochrane, head of mortgages at NatWest, said: “Our Q3 sentiment tracker shows how the sharp increases in energy bills and the cost of living more generally has made energy efficiency much more important to consumers’ everyday lives. 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.”
