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Wednesday 23 July 2008

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Clemency Burton-Hill

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Payback time

Cathy Strongman

Wednesday, 23rd April 2008

Cathy Strongman on what makes a green home

Some grants are available for domestic renewables through the Local Carbon Building Programme and a splattering of local authority schemes, but the sums involved are still scary. ‘I’d advised caution when investing in new forms of green technology because there is no guarantee that it will affect the value of your property when it comes to selling,’ says Tom Barrow, partner at Knight Frank. ‘It’s ultimately about meeting the aspirations of prospective buyers, and at the moment green improvements are not particularly high on people’s wish-lists.’ Michaelis agrees. ‘Improving our insulation and using less energy in the first place is something that everybody can do, but at the moment you have to accept that alternative energy is not a particularly wise financial investment and it will stay that way until the government intervenes and subsidises the industry,’ he says.

A plethora of ideas such as stamp duty and council tax rebates and low-interest loan schemes for eco home improvements are being proposed by bodies like the WWF and the UK Green Building Council as well as various politicians. ‘We need to change the tax system so that retrofitting is a financially attractive decision, not just an ethical decision,’ said Zac Goldsmith at this year’s Living in a Low Carbon World Conference. But only time will tell if greening our homes is to become an affordable option for the majority.

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