A survey claims that 80 per cent of prospective tenants would consider energy efficiency as one of the critical items determining whether they would take up a property. 

Research by Direct Line business insurance shows that the environment is a top concern for renters with 75 per cent saying that a property’s energy efficiency rating is important to them. 

A quarter wouldn’t rent it in the first place or would leave because of poor environmental standards. This increases to 41 per cent among 25 to 34 year olds.

The insurance firm states that there are also negative perceptions of landlords’ attitudes towards making their properties greener. Six in 10 tenants believe landlords care little about improving their property’s energy efficiency rating.

However, when they were asked, landlords contradicted this. 

Some 83 per cent of buy to let investors have made changes to their properties to make them more energy efficient and 73 per cent say they understand how important this is becoming to tenants, and in many case they’’re often going above and beyond to improve their property. 

Over half ensured their property had a good energy efficiency rating despite this not being required by regulation, contradicting renters’ perceptions that they aren’t taking the issue seriously enough. And nearly four in 10 say they did so because they have genuine concerns about the environment.

Other reasons included making their property more attractive to prospective or existing tenants, meeting regulatory standards, awareness of other landlords making upgrades, and a belief their property will be cheaper to run with the improvements.

They’re also making a diverse range of changes to their properties to improve their energy efficiency. Almost half have made their appliances or light bulbs more sustainable, while more than four in 10 have added draught proofing.