Air Quality may be latest factor to influence asking prices

A study suggests that 70 per cent of buyers would be willing to pay more for a property with good indoor air quality. 

The study is by AirRated, a company which measures air quality through five different metrics - humidity, temperature, fine particles, the organic chemicals that form a gas in households, and also carbon dioxide. 

A survey conducted by the firm at the end of last year - and no doubt made more relevant by the Coronavirus crisis - has found that people are more concerned about indoor air quality than they were in 2020, particularly when it directly affects the places they live and work.

The survey found that indoor air quality is a strong influence on the behaviour of house buyers, with 70 per cent of respondents indicating they would pay more to rent or buy a home with good indoor air quality. 

Some 16 per cent of respondents claimed they would pay as much as 25 per cent more to rent or buy a property that could demonstrate good indoor air quality.

The survey also recorded a change in public knowledge and understanding of air quality. Some 80 per cent of respondents agree that their knowledge of indoor air quality has increased over the past year.

In addition the survey assesses awareness of the inequalities that exist in UK and US society, with over 60 per cent of respondents agreeing with the statement that certain socioeconomic, racial and ethnic groups bear a disproportionate air quality burden.

“Our research found that the decision of whether to buy or rent a property was strongly influenced by the air quality … This shows how much the pandemic has shifted awareness around air quality at home and in our workplaces to the point that buying decisions are being impacted and influenced” according to AirRated chief executive Francesca Brady.