Younger low-income families who own their own property. Heat pump consideration is high, but affordability is a significant blocker.

By the numbers

Comprising around 1.8 million households of mainly younger families – with 45% of heads of households aged 40 or under – on lower incomes who own their own home. Their properties tend to be small to medium terraced or semi-detached houses, valued below the national average. Their homes generally have small outdoor spaces. This segment is prominent in post-industrial urban areas in central or northern England.

Of this group, 35% are saving for an emergency fund, with 34% saving for holidays or travel. These were the highest users of price comparison websites, with 35% saying they consult one before making a financial decision. As high-frequency internet users, they use their mobile phones to regularly scroll social media and keep in contact with others. Many regularly go to the gym.

Environmental issues are often not high priorities for this group, and they can be slow to adopt eco-tech due to the expense. Their lifestyle is practical, focusing instead on immediate needs and financial stability.

Heat pump consideration is high, but affordability is a significant blocker. Half of this segment would consider a heat pump as their next heating system in the next five years. Installation costs are the biggest barrier for them getting a heat pump, with 38% citing this. The biggest motivator to getting a heat pump would be lower energy bills (22%).

Deep dive interview insights

Priorities for current heating system

This segment already uses strategies to keep bills low, such as layering up, monitoring energy usage and limiting consumption. Financial pressures are particularly present. Warmth is also sometimes framed around health needs, particularly keeping illness at bay or diminishing symptoms of chronic health conditions. This segment is also more likely than others to have younger children at home.

Benefits of moving to electricity

Self-sufficiency, leading to lower bills, is a strong motivation for this segment – if bills can be proven to be lower. For this segment, managing a budget is a priority and so they would want to move away from the volatility of gas prices and the standing gas change. In addition, the bonus of potentially being able to cool the home in summer was a pull for this segment in particular.

Approaches for preparatory upgrades

While this segment is favourable in principle to upgrading – ideally all done at once – upfront costs are noted, particularly as a barrier. In addition, this segment does not want the stress and disruption of ongoing work. Possible house moves in the near future are also a barrier to investing in any upgrades.

Sources of information

Alongside using comparison websites and, in particular, the valued opinions of friends and neighbours making similar decisions, this segment trusts professionals and values their expertise – whether that means someone who has already done work for them, a friend's recommendation, or a directory such as CheckaTrade. Local Facebook groups are also a source of information. Advice from government and local authorities is not generally sought after or respected, with this segment having negative attitudes towards this source. Forums and video content are also reported as generally avoided.

Attitudes towards heat pumps

This segment tended to say that they will not switch to a heat pump. The upfront cost is a barrier, with the heat pump cost itself, along with preparatory upgrade costs, being a major blocker. In addition, there is a lack of trust in the technology itself as being a viable switch for their home and a perceived belief that there was not enough space to fit one.

Potential message themes for this audience

The Public First report, funded by The MCS Foundation, tested message framing with a group labelled as budget realists, which tends to map across in many ways to budget-conscious millennial parents (although as segmentation was done on values rather than demographics, this is not an exact match). Some potential learnings on messaging that could be successful include focusing on the comfortable temperature of the home and a sense of control. There was also potential appeal for this segment in messaging around increasing the value of the home.

Given the immediate day-to-day focus on budget, as the Public First report states, a focus on upfront support could have more impact than expected savings further down the line. We would also propose a focus on year-round comfort for the family and real-life examples would work well.