New research from the LRG Sales Report Summer 2026 has put numbers to something agents across the eastern counties have been observing at viewings for the past couple of years. Buyers care deeply about energy efficiency. They’re just not prepared to pay a meaningful premium for it. Understanding that distinction matters for anyone bringing a property to market this summer.
LRG surveyed more than 700 buyers and sellers. The headline number is striking: 85% of buyers said energy efficiency was important when choosing a home. But only 2% said they would pay significantly more for a more efficient property. The single largest group, 37%, said they wouldn’t pay anything extra at all. A further 36% said they’d pay more only if the higher cost was recovered through lower bills over time, which is less a premium and more a financial calculation.
Neil Louth, Group Executive Director of LRG, made the point well: “Buyers are telling us they won’t pay extra for a green badge, but they will always do the maths on the bills.”
The research points to a shift in viewing behaviour that I’d say is now well established in our market. Buyers aren’t just asking about kitchens and bathrooms. They want to know the age of the boiler, when it was last serviced, what the monthly energy bills look like, and how the heating system works. These conversations were rare five years ago. They’re now routine.
The EPC rating is a starting point, but buyers are increasingly looking past it. An EPC certificate tells you the band. Buyers want to know the actual number on the direct debit. That’s a different question, and sellers who can answer it clearly, with bills to hand, are at an advantage over those who can’t.
The premium end of our market presents a specific challenge on this front. Many of the properties I work with, period farmhouses, converted barns, flint-faced coastal houses in North Norfolk, are older buildings that were never designed with energy efficiency in mind. Solid stone walls, original sash windows, high ceilings, secondary glazing at best. These are precisely the properties buyers love for their character, and precisely the properties that struggle to achieve the EPC ratings that a 2020s new-build would take for granted.
What this research confirms is that a buyer weighing up a beautiful 17th-century farmhouse outside Holt against a well-appointed modern house in Norwich is not going to be dissuaded purely by the EPC band. But they will factor running costs into their negotiations. If the farmhouse costs significantly more per month to heat, they’ll use that in conversation about price.
Sellers of older, less efficient properties need to understand this. The green premium may be largely a myth, but the cost penalty for poor efficiency is real, and buyers are becoming more confident about articulating it.
The research suggests a practical list of things sellers should be ready to share: the age and service history of the boiler, copies of recent energy bills across all four seasons if available, details of any insulation upgrades, the type of heating system and its controls, and information about secondary heating sources like log burners or heat pumps.
None of this requires a costly retrofit programme before listing. It requires organisation and transparency. Buyers who feel they understand the running costs of a property are more comfortable making an offer. Buyers who feel uncertain will either factor in a risk discount or walk away.
LRG’s Louth drew the relevant distinction: “If two similar homes are available, the one that’s cheaper to run is becoming the easier decision.” That’s a meaningful observation for sellers in competitive micro-markets. Where there’s genuine choice between comparable properties, running costs are now a tiebreaker in a way they weren’t even three years ago.
The energy price cap rose in June, and that’s sharpened buyers’ focus on monthly costs. A property with a heat pump and solar panels that demonstrably delivers lower bills than its neighbours has a genuine advantage, not because buyers will pay a premium for the hardware, but because the outcome, lower monthly costs, is something they’ll choose over a property that costs more to run.
Government policy continues to push in the direction of tighter EPC requirements for landlords and, further down the line, for buyers using mortgage finance. The 2035 targets for EPC C or above in the rental sector have been well documented. Whether similar requirements will eventually apply to sales is less certain, but the direction of travel is clear enough that buyers in their 30s and 40s, with long ownership horizons, are thinking about it.
For sellers, this isn’t a reason to panic or to undertake expensive retrofits before listing. It is a reason to understand where your property sits on the efficiency spectrum and to be honest about it with prospective buyers from the outset. Surprises discovered after an offer is on the table rarely end well.
How energy efficiency affects pricing and buyer behaviour varies considerably across Norfolk and Suffolk. A coastal property in Aldeburgh or Blakeney attracts a different buyer profile than a village house outside Wymondham or Attleborough. Our property market reports across 324 locations give you the local context. The national research is useful for understanding the direction of travel. Local data tells you what’s actually happening in the market where your property sits.
