Greener the better for landlords

The older the landlord the more interest they have in green mortgages, shows research from Mortgages for Business.

When asked, just 40% of landlords under 35 years old of 300 said that they are interested in green mortgages.

This percentage increases with age: 67% of those asked between 45 years old and 54 years old said they were interested, while 75% of participants 65 years old or older replied in the affirmative.

Broken down between the sexes, 56% of women landlords claim to be interested in green mortgages and 64% of men do.

Both cohorts have gained interest over time. These landlords were also asked how interested they were when they first began investing in property – here, 15 per cent of women landlords were and 7 per cent of male landlords were interested.

Given housing accounts for such a significant chunk of the UK’s carbon emissions, it’s great that landlords are so interested in making greener choices – spurred on, no doubt, by the fact landlords are rushing to upgrade their properties to meet new EPC rating rules by 2028.

Landlords now appear interested in joining the battle to combat climate change. That hasn’t always been the case.

Hopefully, research will help drum up more lender supply. The UK’s largest lenders have launched a wave of climate-change products amid criticism over their slow response to global warming. For instance, one of the big lenders did launch a green mortgage last year and we’ve seen others follow suit, but they have only offered borrowers preferential rates when they purchase an energy efficient property – rather than rewarding those improving the ecological footprint of the UK’s housing stock.

It’s not enough and that’s why they have failed to impress campaigners. Given Britain has just enjoyed the greenest Easter on record, with almost 80% of the energy used at lunchtime on Easter Sunday coming from zero-carbon sources such as solar and wind, the industry is in danger of falling behind the times unless we do our bit.