Household energy bills are expected to rise by 10-16% in the coming years. Improving the energy efficiency of homes can mitigate this increase or even lead to lower energy costs. However, the pace at which owner-occupied homes are being upgraded lags behind national ambitions. Commissioned by NVDE, Essent and Verbouwstromen, CE Delft investigated developments in household energy costs, potential efficiency gains in the market, and the policy measures required to achieve these gains.
The analysis shows that further cost reductions are possible across the retrofit supply chain, amounting to up to 10%. For homeowners, this could result in savings of around € 1,700 to € 7,650 on investment costs, depending on the type of dwelling. A key condition for achieving this is an increase in demand for energy efficiency improvements, along with a reduction in administrative burdens for market participants. This can be achieved, among other things, by implementing stable and predictable long-term national policies, improving financing options and support for households, ensuring that local insulation programmes apply consistent conditions to the market, and making nature-inclusive insulation solutions more accessible.
We recommend that market actors work together to improve transparency on market prices, strengthen collaboration across the supply chain, and explore how data-driven maintenance can reduce the maintenance costs of heat pumps.