Today, more and more people are becoming aware of our changing climate and as a result some are beginning to make their homes ‘Greener’. There are hundreds of ways to do this from installing solar panels on the roof to buying a composting toilet! Either way, making any house greener will help the climate in the long run but will it add value to your home as well?

Green homes are usually assessed at the time of selling using a number of environmental questionnaires so that estate agents can determine a fair price. There are a few agents that sell nothing but green homes and these are probably the best ones to go to for a quality valuation. The various questionnaires assess factors such as the energy efficiency and carbon footprint of the property, the water efficiency, the degree of household and site waste management and the satisfactory use of materials. Once a score has been determined, the house can be placed in class system based on ‘greenness’.

Surprisingly, the few estate agents that concentrate solely on selling green homes agree that, in general, they don’t cost much more to buy than an equivalent non-green home, unless of course they have been modified to the point of needing no gas, electricity or water supplying at all! Houses that have been converted to make them more green and efficient can be slightly more expensive than conventional equivalents as the sellers often want to recoup their investments. The difference however is rarely more than a few thousand pounds or so. Homes that have been built from scratch to be green are, even more surprisingly, often slightly cheaper than their non-green counterparts as it is actually cheaper to build a green house than a conventional house.

Saying this, there is some variety in price differences depending on where the property is located. For example, a green house or apartment in London will often cost more than a similar sized conventional property in the same area. This is because homeowners in some areas of the big cities can get small rebates if they keep their carbon footprint and energy usage below a certain level and as you can imagine, any saving is welcome in today’s economic climate. Green houses in the countryside however are often valued at around the same price as if they were non-green houses which is great for those couples or families that want to experience the country way of life while also being environmentally friendly.

Sadly there is no definitive answer for the question of whether buyers pay more for a ‘greener’ house – it depends on the house itself, the location and the sellers. In general though it would seem that, at present, there isn’t a big difference between the price of a green house and the price of an equivalent non-green house but who knows what the future holds as more and more energy efficient rules and regulations make an appearance.

Guest Article by Clare Lynock