"At 14% of total emissions, the UK’s ageing and inefficient housing stock has a far greater carbon footprint than the farming industry in this country"
The new green range offers a 15 basis point reduction on Keystone’s core range and is open to landlords with properties five years or older and with an EPC rating of A to C.
It means Keystone’s green range starts at 3.04% for a two-year fixed rate, while five-year fixed rates start at 3.19%.
The green range is available for purchase or remortgage and on all properties, including HMOs and multi-units, with a maximum loan size of £1m.
Alongside the range, Keystone will also partner with environmental group Make it Wild (MIW), which will plant trees to offset the carbon footprint created by the lender’s office in Kent.
The green mortgage launch coincides with an extensive overhaul of Keystone’s core and larger loan mortgage ranges.
As part of the revamp, Keystone is reducing its rates on its core range, which now starts at 3.19%, by up to 20 basis points.
The lender will also now accept HMOs with up to 10 bedrooms, up from eight before, and will advance up to £3m to any one landlord, up from £2m before.
It has also made rate reductions on its larger loan range, which was launched last summer.
David Whittaker, CEO of Keystone Property Finance, commented: “The climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our, or indeed any, generation and the only way we can solve it is if we all play a part, including the mortgage and property sectors.
“At 14% of total emissions, the UK’s ageing and inefficient housing stock has a far greater carbon footprint than the farming industry in this country and nearly as much as its shops and offices.
“Therefore, it’s clear we need to do something – and urgently. Going out and buying a new build with an A or B EPC rating is not an option for most and won’t solve the problem. So what we need is a retrofitting programme on existing properties the likes of which we have never seen before in this country.
“That’s why we launched our green mortgage range, to play a small role incentivising landlords to upgrade the energy efficiency ratings of their properties now, not tomorrow or the day after.
“If we can persuade even a few landlords to make their homes greener – and lower the energy bills of their tenants in the process – then this range will have achieved everything we wanted it to achieve.”
