Green Property in the UK - Enjoy a Clean Conscience and Healthy Bank Balance With Ecos Homes

When buying a new home or investing in property, we all take certain factors into account.

Cost and location usually top the list, but many buyers are increasingly considering the energy efficiency of the property when conducting their search, leading to a surge in interest for the eco-homes market.

But how many of us actually think about what happens to our money after the property transactions have gone through? And does it really matter? Or do we not give it much thought because we think we don’t have a choice?

Ecos Homes, based in Somerset, UK, is at the forefront of a new way of thinking when it comes to investing in environmentally-friendly property.

Declaring itself to be ‘out to create a new breed of developer’ the firm is not really a ‘firm’ at all but a subsidiary company formed by the Ecos Trust, which ploughs profits back into its mission as a ‘social enterprise’.

Their aim as a developer is to remain competitive commercially, while maintaining strong social and environmental principles.

Up to £500 in bill savings

It’s not just pie in the sky either; Ecos Homes has already built the acclaimed Great Bow Yard, a development of 12 eco-homes and a restored listed warehouse in Langport.

Reportedly saving homeowners up to £500 a year in utility bills, three-quarters of the development’s houses were snapped up off-plan, a figure the firm says shows there is a commercial future in environmentally-friendly housing.

This development is contemporary and pleasing to the eye too - bricks from a demolished house in Bridgwater were used with lime mortar, meaning they can be used again at the end of the building’s life.

Toilets Flushed With Rain Water

The development’s properties include four-bed and three-bed houses, two-bed flats and one-bed flats. Environmentally sound features implemented in the properties include toilets flushed with collected rain water, solar panels to heat water, ‘sunspaces’ to pre-heat ventilation, non-toxic internal finishings and even a purpose-built badger sett nearby as part of an attempt to encourage wildlife.

Also onsite are serviced offices, workshops and a bistro with gallery space. Surrounding the eco-houses and warehouse, a community garden has been landscaped.

As reported by property blog Buildingtalk, Ecos Homes also sees Great Bow Yard as a blueprint for commercially successful yet environmentally sympathetic developments, publishing the pamphlet Great Bow Yard: Anatomy of an Eco Build, in the hope it will help others wanting to build sustainable homes.

Invest in your future

There are new opportunities for off-plan investors, but they are sure to be snapped up just as fast. Over the next three years Ecos Homes plans to build a mix of up to 80 sustainable and affordable houses on at least four new sites in the South West.

They estimate the total value of this will stretch to around £15m in total with locations at Carhampton, Merriott, Stawell and Bridport.

The firm says: “Eco-homeowners are investing in their future. Long-term benefits are recognised, and include reduced running costs, improved resale value, a healthier living environment, and the satisfaction that comes with leaving a smaller footprint on the earth.

“What is more, it is widely acknowledged that in the future, government taxes and regulations will make many of the eco-features from our houses mandatory in all new houses.”

Chrissie Amey, owner of a three-bed house at Great Bow Yard, said: “I just fell in love with what they were trying to do here - change the way things are built - and I love the design. This is very easy to live in and it’s an exciting home to live in.”

Another sneak preview of the Ecos Homes ethos and handiwork is menioned by Julia Hailes a consultant on social, environmental and ethical issues Julia writes: “The Ecos Trust offices had real character, with cubby holes in the walls and uneven surfaces on the walls, reflecting the previous life of the building. And its eco-credentials are pretty good too, going a long way beyond the attractively designed energy-efficient lighting.”

Forget expensive experiments in green living - this could be the way we all live and invest in the not-too distant future.

Further reading: Developing for Green: Investing in Better Buildings for the Future