75% of homeowners intend to make energy efficiency-related changes to their homes, with 90% hoping to make improvements within five years. Despite these intentions, new research from Barclays reveals that the cost is a prohibitive barrier, with homeowners favouring smaller-scale lifestyle changes over larger, structural ones.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues to squeeze household finances and 73% of respondents report being unable to afford energy efficiency-related changes, Barclays is trialling a ‘test-and-learn’ cash reward initiative to help reduce the real and perceived barriers for homeowners, to see if this results in a greater uptake of greener home improvements.
With the majority of homeowners (57%) saying they believe their mortgage provider should help them to make energy efficiency-related home improvements, Barclays is combining behavioural science with consumer research to inform its support for customers. 83% of homeowners report that the removal of price barriers in the form of a cash reward would be most effective in encouraging them to make changes. In response, Barclays has announced the launch of its Greener Home Reward scheme to encourage homeowners to make their intentions a reality.
The Greener Home Reward provides up to £2,000 to Barclays residential mortgage customers that register for the cash reward online and then make and pay for a selected home energy efficiency-related improvement. No additional lending is required to benefit from the scheme and all new and existing Barclays UK residential mortgage customers are eligible.
Customers can choose to install any one of several home improvements, including an air-source heat pump, double or triple-glazed windows, solar panels, or home insulation. The chosen home improvement must be completed by a TrustMark-registered business or tradesperson – TrustMark is the Government-endorsed quality scheme that covers work consumers choose to have carried out in or around their home.
The data and insights collected throughout the pilot will inform Barclays’ product development as it looks to roll-out wider home improvement support measures in the future.
The research sheds light on current attitudes towards sustainability and energy efficiency, as well as the barriers preventing homeowners from making changes. Over three quarters (76%) say they consider themselves to be environmentally conscious and that they are taking steps to become more sustainable. Yet when asked to explain the measures they are taking, the vast majority fall under the banner of lifestyle choices, with 73% saying they avoid or minimise food waste and 62% seeking to reduce their use of central heating.
In contrast, when analysing homeowners’ attitudes towards larger-scale changes, there is significantly more inertia. While 69% have already made some level of energy-efficient improvements, these mostly relate to changes associated with lower upfront costs, such as installing energy-efficient lighting (29%).
When asked about the changes homeowners hope to make in the future, installing solar electricity panels (57%) and solar hot water heating (42%) were the top priorities. The findings support the hypothesis that while there is a strong desire to be more energy conscious, in reality, larger more long-term solutions remain out of reach for the majority of homeowners.
More than seven in 10 (73%) state that the cost of the work is the primary issue holding them back, while 56% say they lack sufficient cashflow to pay the upfront costs. The perceived lack of immediate return on investment, or ‘payback period’, also played into the decision-making process, with 23% admitting this puts them off.
C.S. Venkatakrishnan, group CEO of, Barclays Bank, said: “There is a clear need to improve the energy efficiency of UK housing, but as our data indicates, cost remains a barrier to turning desire into action.
“We hope this pilot will go some way towards encouraging consumers to make energy efficiency-related home improvements.”
Dr Pete Brooks, Barclays Behavioural Economist, added: “When weighing up the costs and benefits of retrofitting, a behavioural bias called ‘hyperbolic discounting’ often comes into play, which in essence means that we tend to prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger payoffs further down the line. With the expected payback period for some home improvements clocking in at over a decade, these larger options may be overlooked. Even if the long-term benefits might be greater, the end result is often inaction.
“To overcome this, our latest initiative helps provide a more immediate reward to our residential mortgage customers to help with the cost of making energy efficiency-related home improvements. Couple this with providing helpful information to consumers to help them make informed choices and we hope to encourage more people to overcome their human biases.”
