The changing role of environmental sustainability in the UK housing market: Research into the weight given to the environmental sustainability of a dwelling in purchasing decisions and whether demand for environmentally sustainable housing has been impacted with the rise in what has been popularly referred to as the ‘climate crisis’ in recent years.

The UK Government is pushing through with plans for as many as 300,000 new houses a year whilst the climate crisis picks up a pace with the recent extreme flooding event in Germany and the wildfires across the Mediterranean. It is apparent more than ever that we need to reduce carbon emissions drastically and fast. New housing needs to be net carbon zero to help reduce the impact of UK housing which uses as much as 40% of the annual energy in the UK. But what of the homeowner and how do they feel about environmentally sustainable housing? Is there pressure from the bottom that demands that we building both more housing and much better insulated housing with low carbon footprints? This research paper looks at a pair of case study sites on the edge of Bicester, one with normal standards of construction and one with high sustainable credentials and asks the people that live in those communities what is important to them in the houses they live in. Key Words: housing; homebuyers; climate crisis; sustainable housing; zero carbon housing sustainable; environment; carbon zero; planning policy; Elmsbrook; Kingsmer