High energy prices spur home sustainability

Multiscope's large-scale 'Sustainable Living' survey of over 5,000 Dutch people shows that home sustainability was hugely popular in 2022 due to high energy prices. As many as 4.8 million households implemented at least one sustainable measure, spending a total of €11.3 million. Most spending went on solar panels (38%) and insulation (37%).

Outsourcing of work

While homeowners are still able to perform simple sustainability measures such as installing draft strips or energy-efficient lighting themselves, installing solar panels or insulating walls and roofs is another story. Overall, as much as 85% of all costs are outsourced to third parties.

Expenditures by housing sustainability category

Solar and wind energy are the leaders when it comes to spending on home sustainability, followed by home insulation. Lighting, water conservation and ventilation are spent relatively less because people often take up these items themselves and the costs are usually limited.

Increase in housing sustainability

By 2022, 59% of Dutch households will have made at least one modification to make their homes more sustainable, representing 4.8 million households. This number is up from 2021 (4.2 million) and 2020 (4 million). On average, more modifications per home were also made than the previous year (4.5 versus 4.1). Overall, 4 million more adaptations were made last year than in 2021.

Call to government

The Dutch Sustainable Energy Association (NVDE) is calling on the government to accelerate its efforts to make entire neighborhoods more sustainable, prioritizing areas where there is energy poverty. These are often homes with low energy labels and residents with relatively low incomes. The conversion to gas-free living is too large an investment for many homeowners. Therefore, subsidies worth billions of dollars are needed.

According to the NVDE, 1,129,000 families can get structurally lower energy bills with the money the government has set aside for the energy cap this year. This would result in annual savings of €1,100. With current high energy prices, the difference could even reach €1,700.

If you are also planning to make your home more sustainable and want to know how to finance it, you have come to the right place. You can also contact us, our advisors at Alpina are happy to help!