Does energy efficiency matter to home-buyers? An investigation of EPC ratings and transaction prices in England

Franz Fuerst, Patrick McAllister, Anupam Nanda and Peter Wyatt

Energy Economics, 2015, vol. 48, issue C, 145-156

Abstract: This paper investigates whether energy performance ratings, as measured by mandatory Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), are reflected in the sale prices of residential properties. This is the first large-scale empirical study of this topic in England involving 333,095 dwellings sold at least twice in the period from 1995 to 2012. Applying hedonic regression and an augmented repeat sales regression, we find a positive relationship between the energy efficiency rating of a dwelling and the transaction price per square metre. The price effects of superior energy performance tend to be higher for terraced dwellings and flats compared to detached and semi-detached dwellings. The evidence is less clear-cut for rates of house price growth but remains supportive of a positive association. Overall, the results of this study suggest that energy efficiency labels have a measurable and significant impact on house prices in England.

Keywords: Energy efficiency; House price; Hedonic model; Repeat sales model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 C81 Q58 R21 R28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (126)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988314003296
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:48:y:2015:i:c:p:145-156

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2014.12.012

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Economics is currently edited by R. S. J. Tol, Beng Ang, Lance Bachmeier, Perry Sadorsky, Ugur Soytas and J. P. Weyant

More articles in Energy Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().