Green mortgages ''slowly catching on''

There may be a lot of buzz around for green home improvements but a new report suggests that only 20 per cent of mortgage brokers are aware that green mortgages exist.

Research by Penrose Financial, a public relations firm, has found that only a handful of lenders such as the Ecology Building Society and the Co-operative Bank currently advise about green mortgages but that the trend is catching on slowly.

Some 83 per cent of mortgage brokers think that the government should also incentivise green home makeovers more.

Claire Burston, a partner at Penrose, said: "While some of the brokers we surveyed were sceptical, believing borrowers are much more driven by cost than saving the planet, the majority believe we will see more lenders look closely at this area in 2007."

The Ecology Building Society offers a one per cent reduction to lenders on its C-Change variable mortgages to owners who install energy saving technology such as triple glazing and solar panels.


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