Britons ‘want incentives’ to make homes green

Half of the respondents to the YouGov poll judged adding energy efficient features to their homes too expensive, but a growing number would consider it were this to bring them financial benefits.

A council tax reduction would induce eight out of ten householders to consider energy efficiency improvements.

Six out of ten would invest in ‘green’ features if they were sure this would bring them significant savings on energy bills, and almost a third could be swayed by lower mortgage rates.

Jon McGowan, head of consumer marketing at the Energy Saving Trust, said: “This new research is once again telling us that there is real appetite to embrace energy saving in the home.

“We believe there needs to be a balance between the Government offering incentives to enable consumers to turn these good intentions into action, but consumers also need to take responsibility and take individual steps to save energy in their own homes.”

As well as improving insulation and making other home improvements householders can save energy by the way they use electrical appliances, for example by not leaving TVs on stand-by, he said.

Mike Holliday-Williams, managing director of insurers MORE THAN who commissioned the survey, said: “Our homes account for 27 per cent of all carbon emissions and they consume three times more energy than the use of private cars.

It’s therefore time that we took note and acknowledged that we all have a part to play in helping the environment.”

Poll results also suggested that consumers want Government and business to do more to publicise the issue.

Almost half (45%) of homeowners said that the Government should educate consumers on individual action they can take to reduce their environmental impact, while two thirds believed that large companies should factor climate change into their operations.

Goska Romanowicz