Understanding Homeowners' Renovation Decisions::Findings of the VERD Project

The VERD Study: In October 2011, the VERD project team at the University of East Anglia began a two-year research project investigating homeowners’ renovation decisions, funded by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC). This report and public conference summarises the findings, revealing why homeowners renovate and why they decide to improve their home energy efficiency

Why do homeowners renovate energy efficiently?:Contrasting perspectives and implications for policy

This paper contrasts two perspectives on energy efficient home renovations from applied behavioural research on energy efficiency and from sociological research on homes and domestic life. Applied behavioural research characterises drivers and barriers to cost-effective renovations, and identifies personal and contextual influences on homeowners' renovation decisions. Research findings inform policies to promote energy efficiency by removing barriers or strengthening decision influences. Sociological research on domestic life points to limitations in this understanding of renovation decision making that emphasises houses but not homes, energy efficiency but not home improvements, the one-off but not the everyday, and renovations but not renovating. The paper proposes a situated approach in response to this critique. A situated approach retains a focus on renovation decision making, but conceptualises decisions as processes that emerge from the conditions of everyday domestic life and are subject to different levels of influence. This situated approach is tractable for energy efficiency policy while recognising the ultimate influences that explain why homeowners decide to renovate

Exploring the experience of insured UK homeowners in flood disasters

The frequency of flooding and the number of properties at risk of flooding in the UK are forecast to increase. Costs associated with flooding are usually significant and include for the provision of adequate flood defences, emergency services as well as for the repair of flood-damaged property. Although floods are known for their devastating effects often manifested in visible physical damage to property, the ‘human side’ of the impact of floods is often overlooked. At present there is a dearth of research with regards to the experience of homeowners following flood damage to their property. Findings of exploratory in-depth interviews with homeowners who have recently experienced a flood event to their insured property are presented and classified into five dimensions, namely: economic aspects, emotional aspects, service-related aspects, social aspects and physical characteristics. It is argued that a greater understanding of the ‘human side’ of flood disasters would be beneficial to all stakeholders involved in the damage management supply chain and should lead to improved services for insured flood victims thereby minimising the impact of flooding events on households

Assessing green home performance: The case study from a developing country

This paper reviews data from a survey to determine the satisfaction level of homeowners towards their residence in terms of green features in Iskandar Malaysia. In this survey, 295 copies of questionnaire forms were being distributed to green home owners and 116 forms were returned. Results show that homeowners are most satisfied with the green features of high ceiling, north-south orientation, double-glazed panel glass doors and windows, solar panel system and landscaped parks with facilities. Rain water harvesting system and low-flow water fixtures, on the other hand, are the least satisfied green features among homeowners. Greater knowledge of green home attributes that influence housing satisfaction could lead to better understanding and prediction of decision making in determining homeowners’ needs

The city or the country: second homeownership in urban and rural contexts

This dissertation uses second homeowners as a lens through which to understand contemporary changes, challenges, and opportunities for post-industrial urban and rural communities. Over the past twenty years, second homeownership has steadily increased across the United States. Although this concentrates in rural, amenity rich destinations, select global cities are also experiencing a new surge of this form of homeownership. Despite this shift, little is known about the everyday routines and practices of second homeowners, as a group or class, within and across urban and rural locales. To unpack these processes, this dissertation utilizes in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations in Rangeley, Maine and Boston, Massachusetts. The case of Rangeley advances the understanding of how the meanings people attribute to places have the power to shape local life. This chapter reveals how, and the conditions under which, both second homeowners and permanent residents—who have distinct orientations to the town—situate second homeowners as a venerable visitor, a narrative which celebrates second homeowners as a deserving, and lauded member of local life. This case broadens our vision of the variable ways in which rural place distinction can emerge and the conditions under which it varies, by turning attention to the ways in which two groups of locally embedded actors—with presumably distinct interests—build consensus over a place’s distinct local qualities. The second case traces two types of second homeowners in Boston: speculators and specters. The former, who purchased second homes between 1980 and 1999 in gentrifying neighborhoods, engaged in city-building projects through direct civic and political participation. The latter, who purchased second homes after 2000 in upscale neighborhoods, more inconspicuously shape the contours of urban life through donations to and participation in elite, high-cultural institutions. These findings shed light on the form and function of increasingly affluent central cities. Together, these cases underscore the heterogeneity of affluent in-migrants within and across urban and rural communities and the variable ways in which they shape the form and function of post-industrial locales. I furthermore utilize second homeowners to broaden our understanding of the shifting cultural meanings of the city and the country

The repair of flood-damaged property: a critical review of the needs of homeowners

One of the primary reasons why firms fail to meet their customers' needs and expectations is due to their lack of awareness of exactly what those needs and expectations are, i.e. there is a gap between company perceptions of customer expectations and what customers actually expect. With five million people, in two million properties estimated to be living in flood risk areas in England and Wales, flooding and flood damage to property are somewhat inevitable. In fact, the increased frequency of flooding and the growing number of properties being constructed on floodplains suggest that these statistics are set to worsen in future. However, there is inadequate understanding of domestic property occupiers’ needs regarding flood damage reinstatement. Therefore, as part of a wider investigation, a review of those needs and concomitant issues is presented. The severity of the impact of a particular flood event on a household is influenced, in part, by factors that can be classified into two main categories: flood characteristics and the individual household characteristics. An initial assessment classifies homeowners’ needs as: time, utilitarian needs, relations and communication, health and safety, commitment and flexibility, economy and aesthetics. In order for insurers and repairers to offer services that will satisfy their clients, sound knowledge and consideration of the needs and expectations of homeowners is vital

McMinnville Habitat for Humanity: Homeownership and Resources Survey

This report outlines the overall satisfaction that homeowners feel in regards to their new homes provided through the Habitat for Humanity program. Details include the overall building experience for Habitat for Humanity homeowners, and the report also includes aspects of possible improvement in the Habitat for Humanity program

Satisfaction issues in the reinstatement of flood damaged domestic property

The frequency of flooding is forecast to increase in the UK, as is the number of properties at risk of flooding. Following major floods in England and Wales in recent years, questions have been raised concerning the quality of service received by insured homeowners during the repair of their properties. At present there is little existing research that evaluates homeowners' perceptions and their levels of satisfaction with respect to the performance of their insurers, repair and restoration companies and loss adjusters during flood damage reinstatement claims. As part of a wider investigation, a review is presented of issues relating to satisfaction and service quality. A proposed approach is put forward for measuring satisfaction of insured homeowners in flood claims. Knowledge of the determinants of insured homeowners' satisfaction in flood damage repair works would be beneficial to all stakeholders involved in the claim chain and should lead to an improved service for homeowners

Tax Salience, Escrow, and Support for Property Tax: Findings from a Survey of South Carolina Voters

Tax salience has been found to impact tax opposition attitudes in a previous study, and scholars find that tax presentation is a key factor influencing the salience of a tax to those who pay it. We test Cabral and Hoxby’s 2012 hypothesis that homeowners who escrow their property tax payments will express more support for property tax increases than non-escrow taxpayers. Using original data collected from a mailed survey of South Carolina voters our multi-variate regression analysis shows that homeowners who escrow property taxes express more support for increasing school tax than do non-escrow payers. We also find significant knowledge limits among respondents in understanding the actual school tax costs on taxpayers in South Carolina. Most S.C. homeowners are exempt from paying property taxes for school operations, but this is not widely understood according to our findings

The Appeal of the Green Deal: Empirical Evidence for the Influence of Energy Efficiency Policy on Renovating Homeowners

The Green Deal is a major new energy policy designed to support the diffusion of energy efficiency measures in UK homes. This paper provides one of the first empirical examinations of the Green Deal’s success in influencing homeowners’ renovation decisions. Using a repeated measures design in which households were questioned before and after the Green Deal’s launch in January 2013, we assess the policy’s success in raising awareness of energy efficiency. In particular, we test the effectiveness of the Green Deal’s positioning to overcome barriers to renovation among homeowners already interested in or considering energy efficiency measures. Using the innovation decision process (Rogers 2003) as a conceptual framing of the renovation decision process, we examine whether new information on energy efficiency provided by the Green Deal strengthened intentions and its antecedents. We find that (1) energy efficiency is of potential appeal to all renovators regardless of their attitudes about energy efficiency, (2) energy efficiency opportunities need to be identified in the early stages of renovation when homeowners are thinking about ways to improve their home, and (3) homeowners’ intentions towards energy efficiency are weakened by uncertainty about financial benefits, helping to explain the relatively slow uptake of the Green Deal to-date