Homebuyers are not being given the information they need and are legally entitled to about the energy efficiency of brand new homes, according to the National Energy Services (NES) and De Montfort University.

Undercover researchers discovered that 98% of house builders' sites fail to comply with the current Building Regulations to display SAP energy ratings. Three quarters of the builders' sales negotiators interviewed by researchers could not explain the SAP energy rating to customers, and over half didn't even realise that new homes now come with an energy rating at all.

"Every homebuyer and householder can make a significant contribution to reducing global warming by purchasing more energy efficient properties and appliances," says Dr Patrick Devine-Wright of De Montfort University, who supervised the research. "But what hope have we got of informing or influencing the buying decisions of the public if this basic information is not made available at the point of sale? The house building industry needs to start taking this more seriously."

Austin Baggett, head of energy programmes at NES, says: "SAP energy ratings have been around for seven years now. House builders were given plenty of warning that these ratings would have to be made public."

NES has shown its report to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and will be working with Government to discuss possible solutions. In the meantime, NES offers several ideas such as training for sales negotiators and estate agents on how to explain energy efficiency features of brand new homes and a new more attractive, easy to understand and visible label.

[right:] How large must an energy label be?

Some of the shock findings

• No SAP rating information on house types was available on any of the top 10 builders' websites;

• 98% of visited sites failed to comply with Building Regulations by not displaying the SAP ratings properly;

• Just one site out of 50 had a significant proportion of homes clearly displaying them where they should be;

• Only 12% of sample sites had any information on houses' energy efficiency at all;

• Only two house builders out of the top 10 had sales negotiators who could begin to answer questions accurately;

• 74% of sales negotiators could not explain what the SAP is or how the energy rating scale or system works;

• 51% of sales negotiators do not believe the new homes they're selling have an energy rating at all.

What is SAP?

• The Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the Government's approved procedure for calculating an energy rating.

• lt is a basic energy rating which assumes average factors for shelter, shade and orientation and considers the space and water heating only.

• The SAP scale currently runs from 1 (extremely poor) to 120 (extremely good), with a score of 80 or more considered to represent an energy efficient home.

• The average UK home (ie. not brand new) has a SAP rating of 40-50.

• Most new homes achieve ratings of 80 or above, and there are many that reach top scores of 100-120.

• In 1995, Building Regulations changed to require a SAP rating on every new home and from 2001 builders had to to post a notice in every finished dwelling stating its rating.

More information

Building Research Establishment: http://projects.bre.co.uk/sap2001/
The National Home Energy Rating NHER: www.nher.co.uk

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