"With 72% of over 55s saying that it’s important to be greener, it shows that there is definitely an appetite to make change."
75% of over 55s haven’t heard of green mortgages, according to new research from Age Partnership.
This is despite 80% doing something over the last 12 months to be ‘greener’, such as shopping locally, recycling more at home, or reducing meat consumption.
When asked what they thought green mortgages may, 32% thought the provider would only invest in green projects and 18% identified that they could secure a better mortgage interest rate if their house contains green efficiencies.
16% thought they could get a better mortgage rate if they planned green home efficiencies for the future and 6% thought they may get cashback on their mortgage if their home was energy efficient.
17% thought that it comprised all of those features and 27% thought it was none.
Matt Stirland, executive director of Age Partnership, said: “We commissioned this study as we were interested in our target audience’s appetite for green later life finance solutions.
“The first part of the study was to understand the over 55s behaviour around being green, exploring the barriers, as well as the levels of understanding.
“The findings gathered from the study are being shared with our panel of lenders to aid green finance product development.
“With 72% of over 55s saying that it’s important to be greener, it shows that there is definitely an appetite to make change. We just need to make sure that green later life finance matches up with expectations, and we educate the audience about the offering.”
