<p><span>Home owners believe it would be more cost effective to move to a new build home but almost half do not understand the government’s energy efficiency targets, according to an online survey from Redrow.</span></p> <p><span>The housebuilder’s survey, conducted by Atomik Research and involving 1,002 UK respondents, found that 30% of the existing home owners and first time buyers surveyed said buying new would be “kinder on the pocket” in the long term. Meanwhile, 19% thought converting second hand properties would be more cost-effective.</span></p> <p><span>Redrow said it undertook the research to discover how aware the public was of the government’s plan to improve the energy efficiency of homes. This includes banning gas boilers from homes, improving the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of most of the country’s housing stock and grants to switch homes to low-carbon heating systems such as electric heat pumps.</span></p> <p><span>But the housebuilder discovered that 49% of pollsters were “in the dark” about the government’s environmental targets, either not knowing of the objectives or having “no concept” of their impact on them as home owners.</span></p> <p><span>Redrow also revealed that the calculated running costs of a renovated 1930s property equated to £1,409 a year, while those for Redrow came to …