Green homes on Rightmove
Green homes on Rightmove
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In this article, Rightmove has taken a closer look at properties with green credentials for sale, from new-builds showcasing the latest eco-friendly tech, to older homes that have boosted their EPC score with eco-friendly improvements.
The new-build development in Walthamstow Village, east London, is of interest. The development company, GS8, describe the project as 'planet-positive construction' as the ten new homes are not just carbon neutral but carbon negative, and zero-waste was produced during construction. The brochure on their website states:
"We are going above and beyond in our carbon commitments, surpassing carbon neutrality from both an embodied and an operational carbon perspective.
In terms of embodied carbon, we have built homes that store more carbon through the natural materials used than the carbon taken to construct the buildings from the remaining man-made materials.
From an operational carbon perspective, the homes will generate all energy through on-site renewables, draw no power from the grid and burn no fossil fuels. This means the buildings are net zero without requiring any offsetting at all."
In the 1980s/1990s, some national house builders found a new way to either continue an income stream or obtain more profit from their development sites long after all the houses had been sold. Instead of selling the freehold of the houses, as was traditionally the case, they decided to sell them as leasehold properties and either collect the ground rents or sell the right to the income to another company.
As leasehold tenure was usually associated with flats or pre-first world war houses, many purchasers were unaware of the implications of buying leasehold property, particularly one with a relatively short lease of 99 or 125 years. Some stated they were not made aware that they didn’t own the freehold of the property.
Initially, the tenure created few issues but as time has gone on owners have run into problems with selling or remortgaging as the lease term has diminished. Following the outcry, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have been investigating the situation which has led to the start of a change in practice.
Q2 house completions meet pre-pandemic levels
Q2 house completions meet pre-pandemic levels
The NHBC announced that with over 42,000 home completions in Q2, numbers have now reached pre-pandemic levels, an increase of 16% on the previous year. House builders have registered to build on over 66,000 plots during Q2 which is an increase of 45% on the same period last year. Nearly all regions of the UK experienced an uplift in house completions, with the North East showing the strongest growth and Wales experiencing a slight dip. Performance remained the same in the affordable and build-to-rent sector with just over 10,000 completions. Steve Wood, NHBC chief executive said: “At this stage we are not seeing evidence that the cost-of-living crisis or risks of recession are affecting consumer demand, whilst registration levels reinforce continued confidence within the sector.”
It may not come as a huge surprise given the energy bill crisis, however, this article explains how according to the trade association Solar Energy UK, solar panel sales have tripled since July 2020. It reports that just over 3,000 solar installations are being carried out each week, compared to just 1,000 two years ago. With the costs of energy soaring and the costs of installing solar PV lower than what it was a decade ago, the time it takes to pay back the installation costs is more attractive.
This article from Scottish Housing News describes how researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a new type of heat pump which could help households save on their energy bills and contribute toward net-zero emissions goals.
In a new paper published in the journal Communications Engineering, the researchers outline how their flexible heat pump technology provides an elegant and low-cost solution to the problems of current heat pumps by integrating heat storage - a small water tank and a coil of copper tube.
The water tank recovers some excess thermal energy produced during the pump’s operation, and stores it as an additional heat source for the heat pump’s operation later.
The recovered heat has a much higher temperature than the outdoor air that provides the heat source, and it can be reused as a temporary heat source, substantially reducing the pump’s power consumption.
OnTheMarket has published its July Property Sentiment Index. Their findings suggest serious buyers and sellers remain confident about prospects for the housing market. Buyer and seller sentiment remained strong in June, despite soaring inflation and the prospect of further interest rate rises creating sizeable headwinds for the housing market. A subtle rebalancing of the market inevitably continues as stock levels keep rising, partly down to the seasonal effect of summer when more homes traditionally come to market. This is leading to a steadier, more manageable environment after the frenzy of the past two years, a ‘new normal’ or elevated version of the pre-pandemic market.
Historic England recently hosted the Future of Heating in Historic Buildings conference in partnership with the Fit for the Future Network and The Church of England.
Organisations and individuals charged with managing historic buildings face a significant challenge and the conference provided an opportunity to learn about solutions to these challenges, now, and in the future.
The talks were recorded and are now available to watch on YouTube here.
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