I'm a bit wary of this at the moment. Maybe what we see as an eco-house isn't what the majority of house buyers would want. The new build ones all seem to be very expensive, and most are full of compromises. When the idea catches on, buyers may be looking for the big brand name insulation products and gadgets that they've seen on the telly. If we've done the early renovations with unknown products and unusual techniques it could reduce the value, as buyers will want to rip it all out and replace it with the "proper" products.Andy Hunt wrote:I have a feeling this may well come up again at some stage - after all, there may be an increasing demand for eco-homes in the future, possibly bucking the general trend, as there are so few around the place.
With the building regs getting progressively tighter over the next few years, we could end up trying to sell a house that doesn't comply with the regs at the time of sale, even if it actually performs far better, so it won't tick the boxes that make it easy to sell.
My inclination if I buy a place to renovate, is to buy somewhere I could be happy to stay in forever, and do a really serious, and probably to most people seriously wacky, renovation that would make my life cheap, comfortable and happy, and not worry about it's resale value. I would aim to buy a place in need of renovation, and accept that if I sell it could still be as a place in need of renovation, even if it is the most low impact, energy efficient house in the area. If I do better than that it would be a nice bonus.