Increasing numbers of buyers are looking for properties which offer environmentally friendly features, estate agents have suggested.

With green issues growing increasingly prominent in political debate and many people keen to try to live energy efficient lives, London agent Julian Reid of the Stoke Newington branch of Savills told the Daily Telegraph that energy efficient homes are becoming more popular.

"There is growing enthusiasm for eco-friendly features, and a growing band of ''green'' buyers who now take features like energy efficiency into account when they go house-hunting," he commented.

Chris Kelly, director of My Place estate agents in south London, added that the "tide is turning" and revealed that his firm now hands both buyers and sellers a checklist designed to offer tips on how to improve the efficiency of their home.

It comes as Alexander Ballard Limited, a climate change consultancy, called for the introduction of ''climate proof labels'' for properties, which would offer buyers information about drainage, natural ventilation and other measures designed to help properties cope with the effects of climate change.