"Now, more than ever, it’s important that lenders play an active role in incentivising green building and helping to reduce energy bills."
Ecology Building Society has launched a dedicated mortgage range for modular construction homes.
Off-site construction utilises panellised units which are manufactured off-site in a factory and then assembled on-site to create an energy-efficient home. The modular approach has benefits including significantly quicker construction times, improved and more consistent build quality and the opportunity to use more sustainable building materials as well as reductions in construction waste.
The Society is working in partnership to provide mortgages for clients of four modular construction manufacturers with more suppliers expected to sign-up in the coming months.
Ecology’s approach enables lending to be secured on modular panels before they arrive on site ensuring mortgage finance is available for different types of self-builders.
Ecology is offering borrowers a choice of two products, an arrears payment option and, for the first time, an advanced payment mortgage, which may be of particular interest to those who require upfront finance to fund the purchase of land and manufacture of the modular panels.
On completion of the works, borrowers will also be eligible for one of the Society’s C-Change discounts which are designed to incentivise and encourage borrowers to build their home to a better energy efficiency rating leading to a long-term saving in both energy and borrowing costs.
Gareth Griffiths, Ecology’s chief executive, said: “Decarbonising our homes is key to meeting our net-zero ambitions. Now, more than ever, it’s important that lenders play an active role in incentivising green building and helping to reduce energy bills.
“We’ve been leading the way on sustainable mortgages for over 40 years, and we’re really pleased to be working in partnership with off-site manufacturers, who have a track record of delivering sustainable homes. We hope that our new mortgages will help scale-up modern methods of construction to deliver more homes built to higher energy-efficiency standards.
“The introduction of the ‘advanced payment’ mortgage option is an exciting first for Ecology, making energy efficient off-site build homes more accessible for those borrowers who may require up-front funding.
“Our innovative approach, to secure our lending, in advance, on the modular panels while they are in the factory, has the potential to be a game-changer, helping to realise the environmental benefits of off-site construction, which will be critical in the fight against climate change.”
