Can insulation improve the value of your property?

We have already discussed the value of increasing your home’s EPC rating, and we can be sure that more energy efficient homes sell for more compared to those with lower EPC ratings.

Solid wall insulation makes one of the biggest increases in your EPC rating – sometimes bumping it up by 2 whole bands, so as we know from that earlier article, this is going to improve the value of your property. The question is, should solid wall (and particularly external wall) insulation be something everyone considers when they are renovating a property for sale. Should it be something a property developer considers?

Grants make solid wall insulation work

External insulation is heavily subsidised by the GDHIF scheme, so for smaller properties you are going to get a discount of around two thirds on the cost. For larger properties, the grant funding is capped, but you will still see discounts of a third or more.

Of course, even with these contributions from the government, there is significant up front cost for the homeowner. So can insulation improve the value?

Benefits of EWI

If you add loft insulation, there are 2 main benefits that could affect the price – the boost in EPC rating, and the warmer feel of the home. It is not very visible however, and isn’t likely to sit in a buyer’s mind very long.

External insulation is a completely different kettle of fish. As well as the obvious increase in EPC rating and warmer feel in the property, external insulation has another added benefit – it makes the property look amazing. In a week your property will go from old tatty looking brickwork or render, to a clean rendered neutral finish. The difference is really stark, and for some properties this is going to make a massive difference to the curb appeal. It also makes for a great time to deal with any other issues like damaged guttering or cills.

Keeping period features maintains value

On a period property maintaining the look is really important. Ornate reveals and detailing can really add to the value of the property, and a simple EWI job would involve stripping these features for a simple smooth finish.

>>> See the types of finish you can achieve with EWI! <<<

Of course, this will negatively influence house price, and it is far better to either work around these features as best you can, leaving the detail exposed. For additional cost, you could also get the features replicated and added back on over the top of the insulation. This will produce the best finish, but potentially add thousands to the cost of the job.

Exactly how much value will EWI add?

This is a really hard one to estimate, because EWI has not been around in the UK that long, and there is not sufficient data to draw worthwhile conclusions. It is pretty certain however that EWI will have a huge influence on the value of  property, because of the huge visual impact and the boost in energy performance. Now you can have a period property with an efficiency similar to a modern one.