Official: "No evidence" wind farms hit property prices

For years, much of the so-called Nimby opposition to wind farm projects has rested on the fear that such developments will have an adverse impact on property prices in the surrounding area. However, in a development that is bound to be welcomed by wind energy firms the world over, a major US study released this week has found that there is no evidence to support the contention that property prices are harmed by the proximity of wind farms.

The comprehensive 164-page study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory assessed data from 7,459 residential home sales from 10 communities surrounding 24 existing wind farms in nine states.

It concluded that "neither the view of the wind facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities is found to have any consistent, measurable, and statistically significant effect on home sales prices".

It added that while further research should be undertaken, the data sample and analysis used provided "no evidence" that home prices were "affected by either the view of wind facilities or the distance of the home to those facilities". It also said that the results from the sample "are expected to be transferable to other areas".

The comprehensive study saw the research team visit each of the homes that were sold to determine the degree to which the wind facility was likely to be visible.

The team then analysed three separate stigmas typically attached to wind farm developments. Namely, fears that the general area will appear more developed, that scenic views will be ruined, and that wind turbines will create a nuisance through noise pollution or shadow flicker. It assessed how each of these concerns affected house prices and found no statistically significant impact.

"Neither the view of wind energy facilities nor the distance of the home to those facilities was found to have any consistent, measurable, and significant effect on the selling prices of nearby homes," said report author Ben Hoen, a consultant to Berkeley Lab. "No matter how we looked at the data, the same result kept coming back: no evidence of widespread impacts."

There was also evidence that wind farms are better for property prices than other forms of energy developments. "Although studies that have investigated residential sales prices near roads, conventional power plants and high-voltage transmission lines have found some property value impacts," explained co-author Mark Thayer, "the same cannot be said for wind energy facilities, at least given our sample of transactions."

A spokesman for the British Wind Energy Association welcomed the report, adding that it joined a growing body of evidence that there was no link between wind farms and house prices.

"We've been saying this all along," he said. "Every single study we know of plus all the anecdotal evidence points out there is no link between wind farms and house prices. It is simply a myth and it is time it is laid to rest."