"While there are more green products for individual owner - there are now 312 on the market - the most marked increase was in limited company lending"
The number of products has increased for seven consecutive months, since August 2021 when there were only 118 green buy-to-let mortgages on the market. Green buy-to-let mortgages now make up 15% of all buy-to-let products on the market.
But limited company products saw even greater improvements in the extent of green choice on offer; rising to 244 deals this month. Green products currently account for a larger slice of the limited company buy-to-let market than ever before - with green products now representing almost 19% of the total.
Just under a quarter of landlords’ properties have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of D or below.
Proposed regulations state that new tenancies should have an EPC rating of C or above from 2025, and all existing tenancies should get to that rating by 2028. Recent research from Landbay suggests only half (54%) of landlords with one to three properties know about the government’s EPC requirements (although 80% of portfolio landlords with 10 or more properties - and 70% of those with four to 10 properties - were aware of the proposals).
Gavin Richardson, managing director of Mortgages for Business, said: “There are now 353 green buy-to-let products - a level not reached since our records began. Choice totally eclipsed what was on offer this time last spring. It demonstrates not only the recovery in the buy-to-let sector but also the willingness of lenders to innovate. While there are more green products for individual owner - there are now 312 on the market - the most marked increase was in limited company lending, where the number of products has risen by more than fivefold since August last year.
“The government has committed to making Britain carbon-neutral by 2050. Upgrading existing housing stock with energy efficient improvements and making new-builds even more green can lower the sector’s carbon emissions. Given much of the UK’s ageing housing stock is very energy inefficient, making our homes a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. At 14% of the UK’s total emissions, housing has a greater carbon footprint than the farming industry. So there’s no question that improving energy efficiency is a critical part of tackling climate change.
“On the other hand, this criticality of meeting the climate change challenge doesn’t make it any easier for landlords. The average bill for landlords looking to improve their property is between £6,000 and £15,0000. When we asked them, only 38% of landlords told us that they could afford to invest in making their buy-to-lets more energy efficient. So mortgage lenders have a huge part to play in helping landlords to fund their efforts - they have a responsibility to provide the facilities to allow landlords to fund this.”
