On the 5th of March, RICS, with the support of the REVALUE project, published an insight paper - Energy efficiency and residential values: a changing European landscape. Written by Professors Sarah Sayce and Sara Wilkinson, the report provides a comprehensive review of the issues that connect values in the residential sector to energy efficiency.

Barcelona, 6 March 2019 - On the 5th of March, RICS, with the support of the REVALUE project, published an insight paper - Energy efficiency and residential values: a changing European landscape. Written by Professors Sarah Sayce and Sara Wilkinson, the report provides a comprehensive review of the issues that connect values in the residential sector to energy efficiency.

The aim of this insight paper is to provide valuers and other interested stakeholders with an overview of the impact of energy efficiency on the value of residential property in Europe, whether that housing stock is owner-occupied, rented within the private sector or social housing.

It considers the role of the valuer and how, through their data collection and reporting processes, they can play a part in promoting a more energy efficient housing stock.

To achieve these aims, it reviews the context within which energy efficiency is rising up the European regulatory agenda and the impact that this is having on value drivers.

Ben Elder, RICS International Director for Valuation, says "the evidence points to energy efficiency beginning to impact value, though this is at a very small scale compared with traditional value drivers. In the lights of this research valuers should be aware of the changing market place and the varied motivations to upgrade, together with knowledge of the changing regulatory landscape."

Project coordinator and partner at Bax & Company, Rolf Bastiaanssen, adds "the work of REVALUE highlighted that the only recognised effective market driver is stricter policy. Contrary to popular belief, our research showed that the impact of increasing energy efficiency standards is actually more likely to lead to brown discounts (value decrease) of unrefurbished dwellings, rather than a green premium for renovated ones."

The full report is available to download here: https://www.rics.org/uk/news-insight/research/insights/energy-efficiency-and-residential-values-a-changing-european-landscape/.