Monitor Duurzaam Leven confirms: consumers want to act, but they hesitate

A sustainable home for everyone? Is the brake really coming off now? Or are there still obstacles? The recently published Monitor Duurzaam Leven 2025 (Monitor Sustainable Living) largely confirms what we see in practice. Three developments are decisive here.
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Solid research that reveals opportunities and bottlenecks

The biannual Monitor Duurzaam Leven study measures how Dutch households deal with resources, energy and food. It exposes the gap between positive, sustainable intentions and actual behaviour. The section on home sustainability is clear: support is broader than ever, yet action is lagging behind. Anyone active in sustainability, directly or indirectly, wants to understand why actions fall short of intentions. These are the conclusions:
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1. Every bit of doubt can lead to delay

Many people want to make their homes more sustainable, but get stuck just before the purchase moment. Not because they are opposed, but because they hesitate. The same questions keep coming back. And these are exactly the questions that are hardest to answer clearly. What does sustainability really cost? When do I earn it back? How do grants work for energy and feed-in? When you dig deeper, consumers also want precise answers tailored to their own situation. They usually know the general do’s and don’ts.

This is where there is a lot to gain. Remove. Every. Single. Doubt. And be specific. Otherwise, you unnecessarily lose a large group that already believes in the benefits but cannot translate them to their own situation. Ideally, you provide insight tailored to the concrete situation, so customers know the numbers are calculated specifically for them. That solution now exists. As Eugene from Prets puts it: “We answer exactly those specific doubts. With a clear calculation for the customer, simply through a module within the supplier’s website.”
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2. We too are herd animals

Many homeowners are willing to make their homes more sustainable, but still wait. Not because of money, but because of their surroundings. You don’t see it happening much in your street yet, so it feels like “others aren’t there yet either.” That’s when the neighbour effect kicks in: wait and see first. As a result, bigger steps like insulation, heat pumps or renovations are postponed.

The solution isn’t pushing harder, but normalising. Make sustainability visible and relatable through social proof. Show real examples, make choices concrete and remove the feeling that people have to figure everything out on their own. When it feels like something “people like you” already do, that social barrier drops quickly. Don’t frame it as “for pioneers”, but as something that’s already normal. Nothing better than Janneke and Erik being genuinely happy with their new home battery, right?
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3. Not too much, not too little. Just enough information.

Practical obstacles slow down sustainability more than money or motivation. Too much information leads to choice overload: what do you do first, what fits your home, and what combinations make sense? Too little information makes it impossible to know whether you’re making the right decision. The result: people postpone or only take small, isolated steps. Not because they don’t want to act, but because the process feels too complex.

So make it simple and manageable. Guide homeowners through the process with clear steps and carefully paced information. This often works well for product information. But right when financing becomes relevant, just before the purchase moment, that guidance often disappears. Prets fills that gap. We calculate and provide a clear overview of realistic costs. We show relevant grants and schemes without requiring research from the homeowner. And we compare loans with just enough detail to make a confident choice.

This makes sustainability a no-brainer. Thanks to favourable schemes, it can often be nearly budget-neutral.

If you’re active as a supplier, ask yourself: am I leaving opportunities on the table? Is my conversion already optimal? If you have questions, feel free to get in touch. We’re happy to help.

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Source: https://www.milieucentraal.nl/professionals/factsheets-en-rapporten/monitor-duurzaam-leven/ 

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