Leaders of the Eco-Pack ; Nine Out of 10 Buyers Seek a Healthy Eco Living Space. David Spittles Finds the Developers Offering Green, Well-Designed Homes

Summary

---

ECO HOMES have come of age: they have gone from hippie to hip. Nine out of 10 buyers want one according to a recent Mori poll. Buyers will even pay extra for a green home if they are convinced it makes them, and the planet, healthier. However, buyers do not want to compromise on style or pay excessive amounts for the environmental ticket: they want homes that have green credentials and design flair, and are value for money.

This is the main challenge for housebuilders, who have been given the task of taking forward the Government's zero-carbon agenda from huge building projects, such as 20,000-home eco-towns, to the creation of allotments on new housing estates. To date, the record of developers is poor: only 10 developments out of 700 built over the past two years have passed the "green" test, according to a review by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, the Government's design-quality watchdog.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Leaders of the Eco-Pack ; Nine Out of 10 Buyers Seek a Healthy Eco Living Space. David Spittles Finds the Developers Offering Green, Well-Designed Homes

Making a mark

But the macro industry is moving forward, if only because, in the future, housing developments will not get planning permission unless they can demonstrate their green credentials.

At the same time, small niche builders are making a mark, too. Cloud Nine, bas...

See the full content of this document

---