Cost remains biggest barrier to green home upgrades
12:01 AM, 6th October 2025, 7 months ago
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Cost is holding back homeowners from making green upgrades, according to a new report.
Findings by Natwest reveal nearly three-quarters (74%) of homeowners without upgrade plans cite expense as the main hurdle.
Other obstacles include a reluctance to take on debt (38%), disruption caused by the work (32%), and limited financing options (27%).
Clear divide when it comes to cost
According to the report, two-thirds (65%) of homeowners plan to make green home improvements within the next decade.
The most popular planned features cited by respondents include EV chargers (34%), solar panels (34%), triple glazing (33%) and heat pumps, with more than a quarter (26%) expecting to install a heat pump within ten years.
However, the research reveals a clear divide when it comes to cost. Among households earning under £23,000 a year, just 53% have a ten-year green upgrade plan, compared to 78% of those earning over £57,750. Higher earners are around twice as likely to have short-term improvement plans.
Cost remains the overall main hurdle, cited by nearly three-quarters (74%) of homeowners without upgrade plans. One in five (18%) homeowners also say the type of property they live in prevents them from making green changes.
Lloyd Cochrane, head of mortgages at NatWest Group, said: “It’s promising to see that two-thirds of UK homeowners now have long-term plans to improve the environmental sustainability of their homes, but the research clearly shows that cost remains a significant barrier. Our challenge is to ensure these improvements are as accessible and affordable as possible.”
Installing composting bins and smart energy meters
The report also reveals a property’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating remains very important to 42% of buyers, though it now marginally ranks below local green space (43%) and access to public transport (43%),
The research also shows a quarter of homeowners (25%) surveyed between April and June 2025 plan to make green improvements within the next 12 months.
Popular short-term plans include installing composting bins (10%), smart energy meters (9%), and rainwater harvesting systems (9%).
Tags:
eco-friendly home upgrades, energy efficiency, EPC, green home improvements UK, NatWest report
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Member Since September 2018 - Comments: 3538 - Articles: 5
9:19 AM, 6th October 2025, About 7 months ago
For homeowners and occupiers it is pure cost in the main.
For LL’s is NOT the actual cost.
It’s more about the pure political reasons which are forcing the ‘green’ agenda and the questionable ‘benefits’ to either party this affects – LL and T
For example where is the business case to ‘upgrade’ a property to make it more ‘attractive’ and ‘energy efficient’ for a T, when the reality is that as a direct result the rent will increase?
With standing charges on bills regardless if you consume energy or not, T then has the ‘choice’ of either a higher EPC rated property, higher rent and existing standing charges, or lower rent for a lower rated property, while still paying the standing charges but in control of consumption.
All this NZ crap is doing is making everyone poorer.
Member Since March 2022 - Comments: 365
11:42 AM, 6th October 2025, About 7 months ago
I would say it is a cost/value analysis that stops people making green upgrades. People can see a direct benefit of low energy bulbs, A rated boiler and controls, new windows and doors replaced as a matter of course as old items wear out. Most D rated properties will have all this installed already. The only “improvements” to be made include floor and wall insulation, solar panels, possibly heat pumps all of which cost thousands and save a only a couple of hundred pounds a year. The real problem here is energy prices in the UK that are kept deliberately high.