Clarion finds over two thirds of customers feel climate change is important to them

For the tenth year running, Clarion Housing Group has produced its annual customers’ behavioural insights report, the Clarion Index 2021. 

With Clarion this year increasing its group-wide focus on sustainability - setting out an ambitious route to achieve Net Zero Carbon Compatible Homes in its first Sustainable Development Roadmap - it has used the survey to understand the extent that customers also believe sustainability is important.

The survey found over two thirds (67%) of customers felt the issue of climate change was important to them personally, while 80% recycle all or most of their recyclable household waste.

Key findings

Customers over the age of 34 were the most likely to say climate change was important to them. This finding was in line with other national statistics, such as a recent survey conducted by Censuswise Research in which more than 4,000 UK adults were asked about their climate conscious actions and, in almost every category, the over-55s were the most likely to be taking eco-friendly steps.

The difference between customers who live in London and in the north of England was also prominent, with a 16 percentage point difference: 71% of Londoners agreed that the issue of climate change is important, compared to 55% of those in the north.

Older customers (55+) were also the most likely to recycle all their household waste (49%). Views varied slightly by gender and working status, with female residents most likely to recycle all of their waste (43% compared to 38% of men), and non-working residents more likely to recycle all of their waste (43% compared to 38% of working residents).

Almost three quarters (72%) of customers said they find it easy to keep their homes at a comfortable temperature. This is a positive result which means that customers can manage their bills and minimise their impact on the environment. However, the fact that nearly a quarter of customers (24%) said they find it difficult to keep their homes at a comfortable temperature reinforces Clarion’s commitment to improving its most energy inefficient homes through retrofit measures.

Improving energy efficiency

Across over 100 homes in Fenland and Tonbridge, Clarion is currently upgrading homes as part of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) Demonstrator, run by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), to improve the energy efficiency of social housing.

David Avery, Group Chair at Clarion Housing Group, said:

“At Clarion we are committed to embedding sustainability across all our operations and it’s very encouraging to see the majority of our customers are also committed to reducing their impact on the environment in their day to day lives. We will be supporting them to do this over the coming years."

“The Clarion Index continues to be such an important tool for our business in helping us understand what matters to our customers and the challenges they might be facing so that we can shape and target our services accordingly.”

Enventure Research was commissioned to undertake the survey. Telephone interviews were carried out with a representative sample of 2,000 Clarion customers with quotas used for age, gender and region.