Mortgage lenders must play their part in helping the country to achieve net zero
Elmhurst has issued its official response to the government’s ‘Improving home energy performance through lenders’ consultation.
Under the plans outlined by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), mortgage lenders will initially be encouraged, and ultimately required, to disclose information on the energy performance of their property portfolios in England and Wales every year, as well as the gross value of their lending for energy saving home improvements.
The Government is also consulting on the merits of setting minimum energy targets for mortgage lenders, and is encouraging them to sign up to a voluntary target of meeting a portfolio average of EPC Band C by 2030.
Elmhurst supports the proposal for lenders to have a more active role in building a market for energy performance improvements, and this is reflected within Elmhurst’s official response that has been submitted to government.
The Headlines of Elmhurst's Draft response
– We agree with the proposed target for a portfolio to average EPC band C by 2030
– We recommend that government provide clarity on their ambition for this legislation as to whether it is to reduce spend on energy (based upon the EPC rating) or the carbon emissions (based upon the environmental impact rating), as they can be mutually exclusive. Elmhurst recommends a dual metric
– We suggest that lenders are required to report the average EPC band (a feature recorded for every RdSAP assessment) by age band to ensure that mortgage lenders for (and purchasers of) older homes are not disadvantaged
-We support mandatory targets being set
Elmhurst’s Technical and Operations Director, Stuart Fairlie, comments: “Elmhurst supports the proposals made by government which aims to provoke lenders to become more actively involved in improving the UK’s property stock with regards to energy efficiency. These proposals contain important ideas that have been cited for many years, and there is no doubt that mortgage lenders have a key role to play in unlocking a lot of investment in more energy efficient properties. This in turn will surely help the nation to progress towards its net zero carbon target by 2050”.
This consultation closes on 12th February 2021 at 11:45pm
Link to Elmhurst’s Response: https://www.elmhurstenergy.co.uk/uploads/Improving_Home_Energy_Performance_Through_Lenders_Response.pdf
Link to consultation: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-home-energy-performance-through-lenders