Skipton mortgage customers looking to make environmentally friendly home improvements can now access discounted additional borrowing, as the Society launches its first range of green lending.

Additional borrowing is available at up to 90% LTV, with loans available from £5,000.

The additional borrowing product specifics are as follows:

• The products available are two-year base rate trackers: one for residential customers and one for buy-to-let
• The Residential product is available up to a maximum loan to value of 90%, priced at 1.09% variable
• The buy-to-let product is available up to a maximum loan to value of 75% and is priced at 1.39% variable
• Both have a minimum loan of £5,000 and a maximum loan of £50,000, and come with no early repayment charges
• In recognition that people will likely want to retrofit properties alongside more broader home improvements, Skipton asks a minimum of 50% of the loan amount is used for greening work.

In addition, Skipton has signalled its intent to help green UK homes by becoming a certified member of the Green Finance Institute’s Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings (CEEB). In doing so, the building society joins the Green Finance Institute in working to promote the benefits of energy efficient buildings.

Charlotte Harrison, Skipton’s head of mortgage products, said: “In the UK, buildings are responsible for around 23% of total greenhouse gas emissions, with many of our homes scoring low Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings too. We’ve challenged ourselves at Skipton to play a leading role in greening the UK housing market and so supporting customers with retrofitting their homes is a crucial first step.

“Our two new green additional borrowing loans make retrofitting accessible and affordable for our customers and landlords. Crucially, we know that it’s often much easier to retrofit as part of more broader home improvements, so with our green additional borrowing we ask that at least 50% of the loan amount is used for green home improvements and the remainder can be spent on the wider work to enable it. This approach means that if a customer wants to install a new kitchen, with our help they can also install new insulation or more energy efficient windows in the room too.”

Emma Harvey, programme director at the Green Finance Institute, added: “We are delighted to see Skipton Building Society supporting the growth of the green mortgage market with their new Green Additional Borrowing Products – the latest financial product to align with our Green Home Finance Principles – and a valuable step towards increasing consumer awareness of the need to decarbonise our homes.”