Southsea Lifestyle – Free Magazine for Southsea, Old Portsmouth, Eastney & Gunwharf Quays

A Green 2023?

Neil Maxwell

Housing activity for the first quarter of the year, looks promising, we’re seeing a whole panoply of buyers being active in the marketplace, and we’ve also had some brilliant new property instructions come to the market since the beginning of December, and through January.

With reports that there are some three million homeowners and investors with discounted mortgages set to expire in March, this may affect consumer confidence and have an impact on the market. Recent interest rate rises have had a cooling effect on house sales, but they haven’t killed them off by any means. 

November saw one of the lowest mortgage lending months across the country, with only 49,000 mortgage completions, but off the back of the political and financial turmoil, that’s not a huge surprise. It’s completely untrue to say we’ve seen a crash in the market, at least in our areas of operation, despite media reports — the reality is actually looking very positive.

For those of us watching our smart meters and energy consumption during the cold snap, we recently sold our first Victorian house in which the owner had installed an air source heat pump. With gas boilers scheduled to be phased out in coming years, air source heat pumps represent a sensible alternative for the environment, and this large semi-detached house managed to achieve an energy performance rating of B, which is incredible, given its age and size.

Other clients with Photovoltaic panels supplying charge to power banks report great results, with some clients only paying a standing charge for their electrical supply for the year, and another client on one of the original solar tariffs, gets a regular cheque for his input to the national grid.

Investing in these green technologies isn’t cheap, but if your intention is to stay in your home in the long-term, then they should pay for themselves in due course. There will come a time when these will be the normal features in housing rather than a rarity, which has to be a good thing I’d say.   

With the green shoots of spring just around the corner, let’s hope that 2023 is fruitful for us all.       


Posted in: Articles, Home & Garden