Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Category:
Secured Loans
With ever-increasing energy bills, it would appear that a growing number of people are realising the potential to cut costs by ‘going green’.
According to a survey conducted by Norwich and Peterborough Society (N&P), 69 percent of individuals are now more likely to install energy-efficient features in their homes than this time last year.
N&P questioned whether or not people would incorporate green features if they were to have a home built to their specification. A staggering 87 percent said that they would, which marks a 6 percent increase on last year. The remaining 13 percent had various reasons for not wanting to do so. 30 percent reported worries surrounding costs and 40 percent did not feel that their subject knowledge was great enough. Finally, 24 percent were simply ‘not interested', while the remaining 6 percent did not disclose a reason for their decision.
Those surveyed were also asked to list, in order of preference, the 10 features that they would most like to have included in their 'dream home'. At 63 percent, energy efficiency came second on the overall priority list. The most desired feature was a designer kitchen at 77 percent.
A breakdown of the latter revealed that a greater proportion of women opted for a smart kitchen (85 percent) than men (66 percent). However, there was a general agreement with regard to energy-efficient features – 64 percent of the females polled and 63 percent of males said it was high on their list of 'dream home' features.
The feature that ranked 3rd on the list was a fully landscaped garden, with a designer bathroom / wet room coming in 4th. Contemporary, open-plan living was ranked in 5th place. In 6th place was a dressing room, which was closely followed by the installation of wireless technology. In 8th and 9th places came a home cinema and a home gym, respectively. Last but not least, en-suite facilities in all bedrooms were 10th on the list of preferred features.
