As part of its initiative towards greater energy efficiency, the UK government is planning to allow ?eco-loans? to improve home efficiencies.
This means that homeowners will soon be able to borrow money for upgrades such as solid wall insulation, heat pumps and solar panels.
The design of the loans will benefit homeowners themselves, who will make long-term loan repayments that are less than their energy bills. Although the government is envisioning improvements in the property market as a result of these plans, it is also acknowledged that this has not yet been reflected either in house-buyer demand or property prices.
A spokesperson for the Royal institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Barry Hall, admitted that green technology has not yet been implemented in the long term to truly understand its effect upon property values.
Mr. Hall said: ?You need some kind of reassurance about ? quality and a register for the installers, before installation will feed through into property valuations.?
The chief economist at Halifax, Martin Ellis, does however have considerable hope for the future value of green. He noted that energy efficiency is an increasingly important component of modern homes. This may even become a consideration alongside factors such as location for prospective home buyers.
One potential problem is the way in which eco-loans are attached to the properties for which they are being repaid. When a homeowner sells, the eco-loan is transferred to the new owner, which could affect the mortgage amount.
Nevertheless, green solutions for homes and their effect on the property market will become clearer, and probably increasingly beneficial, in the long term.
