Would water saving eco-elements encourage you to buy a house?

[DanWatson]

Given that water is beginning to be metered across the UK, and within a few years will most likely be mandatory, would a house's water efficiency be a factor when you were considering buying?

I'm asking as I'm doing a project at the moment concerning cutting the amount of water used in UK households. One of the main reasons for people not installing more water-efficient equipment in their houses is that they often think that they will not see a return on their investment. This is understandable and supported in part by estate agents who say that it is more economically sensible to fit a new bathroom or kitchen.

With water usage becoming more and more of an issue the question is how to encourage people to fit these systems without the worry of losing out financially. My focus is to try and make a water-efficient house as attractive as a house with a newly fitted bathroom or kitchen, or in some way to use the house's water efficiency rating to add value to the house. In this way house sellers can make back some, or all, of the money spent on the upgrades that they installed, while the next occupant of the house has the benefit of a more water efficient house.

Question 1: Do you think that water efficiency in a house (where in some cases it could mean being able to water your plants during a hosepipe ban and cutting your water bills) would be a factor when looking for a new place?

Question 2: If you had 10,000GBP to spend on your house to do upgrades, how would you spend it? Would you buy a new bathroom? Solar panels? A home cinema? Would you consider upgrading your water efficiency? I'd be extra grateful if you could in some part explain your choices.

Any help in this would be really great, as it's the people buying and selling houses that will make the difference in the long-run.

Cheers!

Dan Watson

[MortgageBuster]

For some people an energy efficient home is factor to buy a home and pay some more..
I live in a very hot and sunny country, and every house has solar panels on the roof for the hot water, solar panels are placed at some street lights..
and now solar panels for electricity are being placed with some % of government funding on privet rooftops.
All the electricity can be used by the house and all the 'left over' electricity is bought by the national electricity company at a high price.

When some calculation can be done of ROI, it is worth the investment.
(the roof panels pay them self back in 10-15 years. So for people who believe to stay in a place that long it's worth the investment)