Green mortgages: ecological mortgages
What are green mortgages?Green mortgages or ecological mortgages have grown out of increasing consumer demand for environmentally-sound and ethical products right across the board, including mortgages. Despite the wave of ethical consciousness, it has yet to have a large impact on financial services. There are currently only a handful of lenders offering green mortgages in the UK, each working in a different way – including offering financial incentives for you to install energy-efficient products in your home.
The Ecology Building Society, for example, offers mortgages on properties that it considers environmentally-friendly: old properties in need of renovation, new builds made from sustainable or recycled materials etc. The Society was initially laughed at for its idealism, but has just celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Norwich and Peterborough offers a ‘carbon neutral mortgage’ whereby it uses a tree planting scheme to offset the carbon dioxide emissions produced by your property, plus a ‘brown mortgage’ specifically for those buying a property to restore or convert it.
Likewise, the Co-op, known for its ethical stance, offers a green mortgage whereby for each year that you have that mortgage, it makes a contribution to Climate Care.
Whilst this might seem as though very few mortgage lenders in the UK are interested in green mortgages, many lenders do practise their environmental policies and/or do not work with businesses that are harmful to the environment. Plus the good news is that research conducted by the Ethical Investors Group suggests that demand for green mortgages is about to increase considerably.
At L&C, we are committed to being an environmentally-responsible company and in 2003 won a local sustainable business award. We plant trees with the Woodland Trust on behalf of our customers, as well as work with Climate Care. For further details, see our going green page.
Call L&C today to speak to an expert mortgage adviser – for free – about how you can take out an ethical mortgage. Not only can we help you choose the green mortgage package that is right for you, but we will charge you no fee for the advice we give. Not only that, but if you refer a friend to us and they get a mortgage offer through L&C, you can choose to plant a tree with us on your behalf with the Woodland Trust.
Useful links:
www.recycle-more.co.uk
www.housingenergy.org.uk
www.climatecare.org
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