The Nationwide Building Society is urging the government to make the Help to Buy scheme greener, review council tax and create incentives for housebuilders to build more EPC A-rated homes.

This comes as the Society makes £1 billion available to reduce the carbon footprint of Britain’s homes.

UK homes, and the energy they use, account for 18% of the country’s carbon emissions – and Nationwide, Britain’s biggest building society and second-largest mortgage lender, beleives incentives for consumers are the only realistic way to help people make their homes greener.

To encourage homeowners and housebuilders to make homes more efficient, ahead of the Budget, chief executive Joe Garner is calling on the government to think big about reform to property taxation and housebuilding to provide a clear incentive to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the country.

The Society is calling for the government, housebuilders and lenders to create meaningful incentives for greener homes, by:

• government commissioning an independent review of council tax to explore how linking taxation to a home’s energy efficiency can incentivise green home improvements;
• government transitioning Help to Buy to a new Help to Green programme to deliver more EPC A-rated homes with taxpayer support – plus considering how other government housing schemes could promote energy efficiency; and
• Calling on lenders to incentivise green home ownership by following Nationwide’s pledge to offer discounted rates for EPC A-rated new-build homes and green home improvements.

To support the demand which these measures could unlock, Nationwide – which has more than 1.5 million homes on its mortgage balance sheet – has announced it will set make £1 billion available for borrowers to reduce the carbon footprint of their homes. The £1 billion will be available to kickstart green home improvements and retrofitting by offering members:

• A new range of green mortgages at preferential rates if buying a new-build EPC A-rated home; and
• Preferential rates, starting from 1% for the first two years, when borrowing up to £25,000 – to kickstart green home improvements and retrofitting.

Garner said: “Nationwide Building Society’s core social purpose is to help people into a place fit to call home. There is now also an urgent imperative to reduce carbon emissions from those homes.

“On behalf of our members we are calling for government, house builders and lenders to work together to make a significant contribution to achieving a net-zero carbon footprint.

“Our suggested reforms are about creating meaningful incentives for people to green their homes. It’s not about penalising those in society who are least able to pay or putting the burden on local authorities.

“This is the greatest mutual challenge we face, and we will only make a difference if we work together.”