High energy label increasingly important for home seekers: Land Registry

Dutch homes with a poor energy label seem less popular with home seekers. Sales of homes with energy label A have increased since 2015. The Kadaster, the Dutch Land Registry, reported this based on research into the housing market’s sustainability.

Since 2015, registering an energy label has been mandatory for people who want to sell their homes. The number of homes sold with energy label A, the most sustainable label, was still 14 percent in the first quarter of that year. In the third quarter of 2022, over 24 percent of homes sold had an energy label A.

At the same time, the Kadaster saw a decreasing demand for homes with a “poor” energy label, D or lower. For example, the share of homes sold with a D label was 43 percent in the first quarter of 2015. In the third quarter of 2022, that had fallen to over 33 percent.

In addition, the Kadaster noticed that the price increases of less sustainable homes lagged behind those of more sustainable homes. The prices of homes with an energy label C or higher rose by 10 percent annually in the third quarter of this year. Homes with an energy label G, the lowest possible label, rose in price by less than 4 percent.

In addition to the differences in energy labels between homes sold, Kadaster also analyzed the extent to which sustainability differs per owner. It found that housing associations own a relatively large number of sustainable homes with energy labels A to C. Small investors own a rather large amount of living space with an energy label D or lower, as do homeowners who live in the home themselves.

Kadaster also saw that homeowners’ willingness to invest in sustainability decreases as they age. Three-quarters of homeowners up to age 45 are willing to invest in a more sustainable home. The same is true for less than 60 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds and 27 percent of homeowners paver the age of 75.