Foundation Home Loans has launched a ‘Green Reward’ remortgage for landlords

The five-year fixed-rate mortgage for landlord borrowers is available on a remortgage-only basis on those private rental sector properties which have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘C’ or above – dated within the last 12 months, except for listed properties which are not eligible.

For those that qualify, Foundation is offering a 3.75% rate up to 75% LTV, with £750 cashback on completion plus a reduced fee of 0.75%.

The specialist lender said the product would hopefully act as a catalyst to support the reduction of the carbon footprint from UK residential properties and would also raise awareness around the various initiatives that are currently available to support this aim, such as the government’s ‘Green Homes Initiative’ which is available to landlords and offers grants to help them implement energy-efficient upgrades to their properties. The government initiative was recently extended for a further year and is available until the end of March 2022.

All rental properties are currently required to have an EPC rating of ‘E’ or above, but Foundation is urging landlords to utilise the government scheme in order to improve the rating to ‘C’ and above, in order to make the property eligible for its Green Reward remortgage product. The product is designed to reward landlords who have paid out to make improvements and Foundation do not stipulate which energy efficient requirements within each home must be implemented in order for them to secure a ‘C’ rating.

The Green Reward remortgage is also available on an ‘early remortgage’ basis so landlords don’t have to wait the usual six months before remortgaging an improved property to the lender.

George Gee, commercial rirector at Foundation Home Loans, said: “This new ‘Green Reward’ remortgage exclusively for landlord borrowers – one of the few on offer within the specialist mortgage market – has been designed to support those landlords who have made environmentally-friendly choices with their properties. There has already been a real movement to increase the EPC ratings of rental properties, but we’d like to reward landlords who make further progress. Once landlords have actively improved the energy efficiency of their properties, we will provide them with access to a product that delivers a very competitive rate, with a reduced fee and a generous cashback which they may wish to use to help offset the costs of the improvements.

“Landlords can achieve a number of positives here, making use of the government grants available, upgrading their properties, creating more energy-efficient homes, while also potentially cutting their tenants’ energy bills.”