Moving Home

If you are thinking of moving you may be interested to know that there are now accreditations you can look out for, which will identify more environmentally friendly properties.

• For new builds, developer refurbishments or conversions the Building Research establishments 'EcoHomes' assessment rates properties against seven main criteria: energy; water; pollution; materials; transport; ecology and land use; health and well-being. You can view the details here
• For conventional resale (and newbuild) properties The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) energy rating calculates a building’s energy efficiency. SAP ratings are scored on a scale from 1 to 120 where 1 is the worst and 120 the best. SAP ratings are an integral part of the much vaunted 'sellers pack' which was to be mandatory for all homes sold in England and Wales from 2007. These packs are no longer to be mandated, but thos ewho have invested in improving the nergy efficiency of their homes are likely to have invested in obtaining independant accreditation.
  

The site www.greenmoves.com specialises in marketing more environmentally friendly properties and vets them against criteria including SAP rating and EcoHomes accreditation before admitting them onto the site.

Other things to consider, when planning to move are:

• Mortgages: Take a look at our information page on environmentally friendly mortgages & loans.
• Packaging materials: Ask your removal firm to provide recycled packing boxes, or source them yourselves
• Removal firms: At the time of writing, we are not aware of any removal firms who specifically use low-emission vehicles or promote and environmentally friendly policy, but we will update these pages as soon as we receive new information.