More than a fifth of people in the UK would prioritise building an annex to get more space in their home above investing in energy saving measures.
That’s according to the results of a Europe-wide 8,000 person survey published by E.ON, which asked respondents what they would do if they had to spend a large amount of money on their house.
In Germany, 27% of people said they’d rather refresh their interior deco than pay for a green makeover, the latter being favoured by less than a fifth of those questioned.
The survey revealed Hungary is perhaps the most efficiency-conscious country in Europe – 51% said they would spend the money on a retrofit, dwarfing the 18% who said they would want to redecorate.
In Italy and Romania there is also a preference for energy conservation, with 37% and 34% choosing this option respectively.
In the UK, just 6% of all households had an energy efficient measure installed under the entire Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, as of December 2016.
Another E.ON survey suggests almost three quarters (73%) of people have adopted smarter technologies in their homes.