The impact of Energy Performance Certificates on property values

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Cosmina Marian

Communications

1782 Last modified by the author on 04/08/2016 - 15:14
The impact of Energy Performance Certificates on property values

The primary aim of this report is to assess whether energy efficiency is capitalised upon in the housing market of selected European countries. The affirmative case would result in a price surplus due to energy efficiency for sale and rental transactions. The energy efficiency rating given in Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) is used as a proxy for the energy efficiency of a dwelling. This enables a hedonic analysis to be carried out to estimate the willingness-to-pay for energy efficiency.

Whilst similar analyses have been carried out for a limited number of EU Member States, data limitations have so far prevented a comprehensive report. Data availability in this field is continually improving due to the increasing levels of implementation of the EU Energy Performance in Buildings Directive (EPBD), which requires EPCs to be advertised for rental and sale transactions. However, data limitations remain and a full report on the level of energy efficiency capitalisation in all EU and EEA Member States is not yet possible. Despite this drawback, this report will outline a method for the assessment of price surpluses due to energy efficiency, which will be carried out on 12 countries. This will provide the foundation for future investigations that can be performed periodically to assess changes in the level of capitalisation of energy efficiency, thereby providing information that can be used to assess the success of policies in the field, such as the success of energy performance certification.

In addition to the market analysis, a survey among real estate agents has been carried out for 8 countries. The aim of the survey was to collect real estate agents’ professional opinion on what are the main factors that households consider when selecting properties to buy or rent. More on the results and the recommendations drawn to follow in the full report.

The report was developped within the framework of the EU funded project,ZEBRA2020. ZEBRA2020 focuses on tracking the market transition to nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEBs) to derive recommendations and strategies for the building industry and policy makers and to accelerate the market uptake of nZEBs.

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