Quote by the Alliance & Leicester

"Peace and quiet is the single most important factor people have in mind when buying a home - with one in five prospective homebuyers rating it as the most important consideration when choosing where they will buy"

Alliance and Leicester Survey, 3/6/03

Fom Evidence to Select Committee

Our house is 930m from a wind farm and is downwind of the prevailing wind... became operational in summer 2006. ..By May 2007 we were forced to abandon our home...our house is now likely to have a value of just £35,000 - £50,000 and is no longer marketable for people to live in.

Extract from the Country Guardian web site

A study of its members’ opinions by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS 2004) concluded that "60% of the sample suggested that wind farms decrease the value of residential properties where the development is within view...” and the report also concluded that “Once a wind farm is completed, the negative impact on property values continues but becomes less severe after two years or so after completion"

Legal Ruling in the Lake District

There has been a legal ruling against a couple in the Lake District who sold their house without telling the buyers that a wind farm was likely to be built nearby. The judge upheld the purchasers' claim for "material misrepresentation" and ordered the vendors to pay compensation of 20 % of the market value in 1997, £12,500, plus interest, because of damage to visual amenity, noise pollution and the "irritating flickering" caused by the sun going down behind the moving blades of the turbines 550 metres from the house.

A Welsh Experience

In May 2005, a local resident near Brechfa reported in the Carmarthen Journal that:

"Our property, in the middle of the proposed TAN8 site (Strategic Area G) had a firm offer of £318,000. One week later our prospective purchaser, who incidentally knew about the turbines and had no problem with them, said they would do us a favour and take it off our hands at a big financial risk - for a reduced £250,000 which was higher than the 40 per cent we could expect to get, being near turbines!"

Extract from the Country Guardian web site

With outrageous misrepresentation, the DTI Myths website dishonestly misquotes the RICS survey findings: - “A study by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggests that wind farms have no lasting impact on UK house prices” and continues “It shows that local house prices recover from any initial impact once a wind farm has been operating for two years.” Compare that with the very different original versions above!

Worldwide Evidence

Evidence from Denmark, the USA and the UK indicates that houses in the vicinity of turbines lose 25 to 30% of their value. Houses close to a turbine could be unsalable.

Wales - Total loss for 8 properties in excess 0f £1.5 milion

In July 2005, a study was made of a sample of properties near a proposed wind farm at Esgairwen Fawr, near Lampeter, Ceredigion, by Gareth Scourfield. Eight properties were valued and estimates made of the loss due to nearby wind turbines. Total loss for the eight properties was in excess of £1.5 million, or typically 20 - 25% on each property

Property Value Loss Comensations - Denmark

There is a new law about compensation for lost property values caused by windmills. If a house is within 6 times the altitude of the tower - for example tower altitude 100 meter = 600 meter - you can have an evaluation made free of charge. If the house is further away you have to pay for an evaluation. The money will be returned if you get compensation. Owners of windmills have to pay the compensation.