TSB has unveiled Green Additional Borrowing mortgage products aimed at encouraging people to make their homes environmentally friendly.
Customers will receive cheaper rates for green home improvements.
Existing TSB buy-to-let or residential mortgage customers can borrow £10,000 or more (up to 85% loan to value (LTV)) to fund a range of green home improvements which include: loft and wall insulation, a heating upgrade or solar panel installation.
Customers must spend a minimum amount of £1,000 for ‘green’ improvements as part of overall total advance.
Customers will benefit from rate reductions of 0.50 percentage points (with no product fee), where it is used to fund improvements that will reduce the emissions from their homes. Where the borrowing is to fund a mixture of ‘green’ and other improvements, then just the green part of the borrowing will benefit from the reduced rate.
As part of its ‘Do What Matters Plan’, TSB is committed to reducing its environmental impact, including hitting net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. This latest move follows TSB’s tree-planting scheme – to offset the impact of house-moves, a new tree is planted for each mortgage sold where the customer moves house.
Nick Smith, TSB’s head of mortgages, said: “We are all conscious of the need to do more to protect the environment and we know that a lot of our customers are also keen to play their part in tackling climate change. So we’ve decided to give our mortgage customers a helping hand, by offering them a discount when they borrow to invest in the energy efficiency of their homes.”
Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, chief executive of the Green Finance Institute, added: “Innovation and transparency will be essential for scaling-up the green mortgage market and accelerating the decarbonisation of UK homes.
“Today’s announcement about the launch of TSB’s Green Additional Borrowing mortgages – which align with the industry-backed Green Home Finance Principles, established by the Green Finance Institute – is a welcome contribution to creating a thriving market for green mortgages in the UK.”