European citizens willing to renovate their home but held back by investments to be made

• Thermal comfort, saving money and a healthy environment are the main motivations to carry out energy-efficient renovations across all countries.
• For all countries, there is one main barrier: Money. Renovations require substantial investments and not everyone can afford it. Too much hassle is also holding citizens back but to a lesser extent. Renovations always bring a lot of hassle: getting legal permission, coming to an agreement with other households living in the same building, finding a reliable contractor, possibly moving out of the home, dirt and mess are all barriers when considering a home renovation. A third factor is a lack of procedural awareness when it comes to legal aspects and state funding.
• Women score higher on environmental motivations related to climate change and outdoor air quality, while they are also the ones who are more often held back by the investments to be made to make renovations. Men on the other hand like their houses to be equipped with the latest technology and like to experiment with this.
• Citizens living in cities more often do not make renovations because of the hassle and a lack of awareness on options and state funding. When they do, their main motivation is to reduce noise. Those who live in rural areas, on the other hand, are more often motivated to make renovations because others do it, to make their houses look better and because they want their houses to be equipped with the latest technology.

• Citizens who own a house are more motivated in general. The same applies for higher-income households and households with children, while those within the age of 18-34, who lack money to finance renovations, are also more sceptical about whether it will actually result in energy-saving or protect the environment.

• Politically left-oriented citizens are more often triggered by environmental motivations, while politically right-oriented citizens are more likely to renovate because they like to have the latest technology and want to improve the looks of their house. 

• A number of respondents who said they made energy-efficient renovations differs per country (4). Insulation and window glazing is most often carried out. Bulgaria (87%) ranks first in terms of respondents who made energy-efficient renovations, followed by Poland (69%), Spain (58%), France (49%) and Germany (41%). It is also worth highlighting that the countries where the most renovations are made also have the highest percentage of homeowners.

• The awareness and knowledge of ‘highly energy-efficient homes’, ‘energy-neutral homes’ or ‘passive homes’ differ per country. While in Germany, energy efficiency is a popular topic, Spaniards and Bulgarians show a certain understanding of the different concepts. The French and the Poles, however, have a very low awareness of the terms “zero emission” or “neutral house”.

Notes to the editors:

1. It is important to note that this survey tests perceptions and is not a measure of reality. Sometimes, state financial incentives or support schemes to help citizens with the energy renovation in their homes do exist but citizens are not aware of them. It is however key to better understand public perceptions and address those perceptions through a range of consumer outreach and education as well as changing the policy environment.
2. These five countries all represent diverse socio-economic, geographical and cultural characteristics and have been selected to demonstrate the differences across various European contexts.