By purchasing a new home rather than an older, less energy efficient property, last year’s new build purchasers are saving 576,000 tonnes of carbon emissions meaning that they are doing their bit to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and saving themselves hundreds of pounds per year as well. With new homes generating only around one-third of the carbon produced by the average older property each year, its impact on the environment and climate change is far lower than that of the existing housing stock.

Just under 18 million homes in England were built before 1980 with these properties typically being the least energy efficient among the housing stock. Accounting for 73% of all homes in England, if all of these dwellings were brought up to the standard of the average new build property, or replaced by new homes, the country’s annual carbon emissions would be reduced by 42.6 million tonnes.

On average, owners of new homes save £435 on household bills per property each year, totalling £112 million in savings in the year to September 2021.

With households in the UK accounting for over 20% of greenhouse gas emissions each year, it is unsurprising that the energy efficiency of homes, and how to improve this, has risen up the political and social agenda in recent years. The home building industry has continued to build homes to changing requirements, using new materials, methods, and technologies to maximise the energy efficiency of the new properties and meet the demand of an increasingly environmentally conscious consumer base.

The impact that this is having on the UK’s progress towards net zero is undisputable, with carbon emissions from new build homes significantly lower than the average older property.

Although the environmental impact is reason enough to continue improving the energy efficiency of the country’s housing, there are many other positive impacts that a new build home can provide. In particular, and in light of spiralling energy costs over recent months and years, household bills such as heating and hot water are significantly reduced for owners of new build properties.