Buyers of poorly-insulated homes may struggle to get a mortgage under government proposals to make the housing stock greener, it was revealed yesterday.
Mortgage lenders would have to disclose the energy performance of properties in their portfolio – and set themselves voluntary targets to improve the insulation of their houses.
Ministers hope that the move would encourage buyers to make their homes more energy efficient.But those that cannot afford to do this could struggle to remortgage or sell.
Buyers of poorly-insulated homes may struggle to get a mortgage under government proposals to make the housing stock greener
The plan states lenders’ properties should aim to reach an average energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of band C by 2030.Ministers could make the target mandatory if not enough progress is made, according to the Government’s heat and kombi servisi buildings strategy.
Only around two in five homes in the UK currently receive a band C energy rating or higher, according to government figures.Band A is the most efficient and G is the least.
Critics have warned that the plan would hit first-time buyers and families with period properties. Sarah Coles, of investment service Hargreaves Lansdown, said some homeowners would find it ‘prohibitively expensive’ to make their house more energy efficient.
She added: ‘They may not be able to afford to borrow more, or Kombi Servisi the cost of changes to older properties may be disproportionately high, so they would never recoup the cost of the improvements through a sale.’
Mortgage lenders would have to disclose the energy performance of properties in their portfolio
Miss Coles also said it is ‘likely to get much harder to track down a cheap mortgage for an inefficient property, which will make them more difficult to sell, which in turn is likely to bring down their value’.
She added: ‘Owners may also struggle to remortgage, so could end up paying over the odds each month.If you’re living in an old family home, and you need to trade down to boost your income in retirement, it could have far-reaching consequences for the rest of your life.’
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, a former energy minister, condemned the plans as ‘an insult to first-time buyers who have scraped and Kombi Servisi saved to get on the housing ladder’. He added: ‘The Conservatives must cancel this plan. If you beloved this post and you would like to obtain extra facts regarding kombi Servisi kindly check out our own site. Ministers are attempting to clean up their own mess by forcing innocent first-time buyers to fork out thousands of pounds extra.’
But trade association UK Finance said banks and other lenders are committed to making sure customers receive help.It added: ‘Greening our housing stock is vital if we are to meet our climate change obligations and banks and finance providers are committed to helping achieve this goal and making sure consumers are not left behind.’
Ministers hope that the move would encourage buyers to make their homes more energy efficient
The heat and buildings strategy states that the Government ‘consulted on proposals to require mortgage lenders to disclose information regarding the EPC rating of their lending portfolios’.
The plan added: ‘We also proposed a voluntary target to reach an average of EPC band C across their mortgage portfolio by 2030, with the option of making this target mandatory.’
Downing Street said it was considering the responses to the consultation and ‘would only introduce a policy which was guided by fairness for the public’.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the aim of the plan is to ‘catalyse the development of a green finance market and make available affordable finance’.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-20c10d40-3120-11ec-9028-23c479e7c61e" website your home greener or you won't get a mortgage under new eco plans