House prices rose at the end of the summer, almost reaching the record highs set two years ago, according to reports from leading lenders.

Halifax said that the average house price is now £1,000 shy of the record set in June 2022, while the Nationwide said that during August, UK house prices rose at their highest annual rate since December 2022.

This positive activity was fuelled in part by cuts to mortgage rates and the expectation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates at least once more in 2024.

In among these positive figures were further details that should boost the optimism of those working in the home improvement industry.

“The energy efficiency of homes is rising one again to the top of the agenda,” aluplast’s Director of Sales & Marketing Ian Cocken says. “Our industry has discussed at length about how homeowners are quick to upgrade windows and doors as energy prices rocket – which we saw after Russia invaded Ukraine – but little has been said about energy efficiency as a method to sell homes.”

According to the Nationwide, a more energy efficient property, rated A or B, is 2.8% higher in price when compared to a similar property rated D, the most commonly occurring rating. 

“There is a noticeable discount for properties rated F or G – the lowest energy efficiency ratings,” Robert Gardner, chief economist for Nationwide, says. “Indeed, an F or G rated home is valued 4.2% lower than a similar D rated property.

“Our research suggests while energy efficiency impacts remain relatively modest, they have increased relative to pre-pandemic levels.”

For Cocken, the need to put energy efficiency at the centre of your business strategy is key.

“Energy efficiency isn’t something you can just tag on to the list of properties a window or door has,” he says. “A property’s energy efficiency is central to its desirability, and all improvements made to that property must follow that trend. But this cannot be done at the expense of other desirable features.

“At aluplast, sustainability and energy efficiency are central to everything we do, including product design, product manufacture, and distribution.”

For example, aluplast’s Smart Slide neo can achieve Passive House levels of thermal efficiency, while spanning 4.5m with just two panels – one fixed and one sliding. Three and four-panel options are also available.

Thanks to hardware from either MACO or Siegenia, the Smart Slide neo achieves excellent performance for both air/water permeability, meeting BS6375 for weather tightness, while achieving PAS24 for security.

“Significantly, we are pulling together multiple threads to create a valuable brand and a market-leading proposition for our customers,” Cocken says. “With aluplast, energy efficiency, sustainability, market-leading performance and high-end aesthetics are woven together to create opportunities in spaces where other window and door brands struggle to compete.”

Cocken reveals that product development in the pipeline – which will be unveiled at the FIT Show in 2025 – will continue this theme, and will create significant opportunities for fabricators and installers looking to capitalise on the energy efficiency message.

“New products, such as the energeto neo, a composite slimline window that has been exceptionally well received by commercial developers, are gaining traction with some of the major house builders in the UK,” he says. “And further investment in the design will answer many questions about the effect of the Future Homes Standard on the industry in years to come.

“And recent developments on our tried and tested Ideal70 window could see U-values dropping below the 0.8W/m2K mark, which will create exciting new opportunities for our customers.

“As homeowners recognise the value of investing in energy efficiency, now is the time to invest to meet that expected jump in demand.” 

www.aluplast.co.uk

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