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During the past year the government has been pushing for the development of more 'zero-carbon homes', homes that are of the highest possible efficiency, requiring little or no heating. To encourage the uptake of these kinds of homes they have introduced a number of incentives including zero-rated stamp duty for zero-carbon new builds.

Savills set out to investigate the interest in eco-homes and whether the environment figures in the purchasing decision. The research was conducted in the second half of 2006 ?across a cross section of UK households.? Though Savills gives no indication of the size or demographics of this sample.

Asked whether householders considered their homes to be eco-friendly, only 20% strongly agreed or agreed that their homes were. More than 40% expressed a 'neutral' response, which Savills interpreted as meaning 'don't know'. This left about 40% who said that their homes were not eco-friendly.

Energy saving features, low running costs and good thermal insulation were considered important or very important by 74%, 77% and 84% of respondents respectively. In contrast, what the report refers to as ?darker green? issues, such as renewable energy supply, eco-ratings and eco-friendly build materials, were rated much lower, each being considered important by around just 40% of occupants.

The report says:

?When people were asked which eco-features they would actually be prepared to pay more for in a new home, far fewer said they would be prepared to pay than thought them important.?

Yolande Barnes, Savills Research, said:

?When it comes to energy efficiency, the average householder appears to be more motivated by

saving money than saving the planet.?

But the report speculates that this may change with the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates at the beginning of August, saying that it ?may even translate into higher prices.?

As environmental sustainability becomes much more of a public issue, especially if the security

of power supply becomes threatened, as it has been in other western countries, the report suggests that its finding will also change. The survey showed that ?those households headed by younger generations or containing children or students attached greater importance to green issues.?

The report turns its attention to whether the stamp duty incentives would enough to encourage a greater eco-sentiment, and concludes that they would not.

From October new zero-carbon homes will be zero rated for stamp duty, for houses costing up to ?500,000. Properties over ?500,000 will be eligible for a discount of ?15,000. But these concessions only apply to new builds. They will not apply to the properties when they are sold on.

From the developer's point of view, Savills do not believe that the discount alone in stamp duty is enough to offset the cost of adding the measures required for a zero-carbon home (estimated to be up to ?36,000).

Savills conclude that developers will need to close ?the value/cost gap associated with building sustainable homes.?

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