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Six reasons for improving our home energy efficiency

Find our how we’re accelerating the transition to more energy efficient homes

1.       Warmer homes save lives

Across the UK, it’s estimated that an average of 10,000 excess winter deaths are attributable each year to cold and insufficiently heated homes.2 Warmer homes are not only more comfortable, but they are also vital for our health and wellbeing, especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly and those living with chronic illnesses.

 

2.       Reducing emissions

Research shows that almost 16% of net UK greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to come from the residential housing sector. As such, making the incremental changes to decrease our domestic energy demand – including measures such as improved insulation, new heating systems, solar panels and draft-proofing – can have a big impact on carbon use. Indeed, the independent non-departmental public body, the Committee on Climate Change recently identified the retrofitting of the UK’s 29 million existing homes to low-carbon and low-energy as a key priority.

1 Source: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. 2020 UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

3.   Saving money

Energy efficiency is one of the best ways of defending against high energy prices, and if implemented in an affordable way, will benefit a significant amount of people. We also know that there is strong demand from consumers, with our Greener Homes Attitude Tracker showing that around 63% of the public want to make their homes more energy efficient.1

 

4.     Helping to future proof properties

Improving energy efficiency also makes sense for households longer term. With increasingly stringent building standards, such as the Future Homes Standard, coming into place, retrofitting can help future proof against energy compliance requirements. It also enables homeowners to access preferential lending terms through products such as green mortgages. Invariably, this makes energy efficient houses more attractive than less sustainable homes.

 

5.    Increased skills and jobs

Home energy efficiency will be a vital part of delivering our national net-zero ambitions and this, we believe, opens huge opportunities for businesses. Our ‘Springboard to Sustainable Recovery’ report, published in 2021, shows that SMEs can deliver a significant amount of the UK’s abatement targets. From the installing of heat pumps to the fitting of solar panels, a substantial raft of new jobs can be created from the delivery of energy efficiency.

 

6.   National energy security

Our national exposure to international energy prices has become starkly apparent in recent years, with geopolitical factors and global market volatility contributing to soaring energy costs. Decreasing our energy demand by improving the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings presents a logical, fast and impactful solution to managing energy bills, as well as helping to improve national energy security.

Climate Matters

Our Climate Matters publication features a foreword from COP26 President, The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, and articles from our Head of Climate and ESG Capital Markets, Caroline Haas on carbon credits, as well as our Head of Climate James Close on what drives his passion for climate change.

Read now (PDF 3.9MB)

How NatWest Group is accelerating the transition to more energy efficient homes

Sustainable Homes and Buildings Coalition. In July 2021 we announced the launch of our Sustainable Homes and Buildings Coalition in collaboration with British Gas, Worcester Bosch and Shelter to explore solutions to make UK housing more energy efficient, influence change on an industry level and lobby the Government on the policy changes required. Building on this, the coalition launched our ‘Home is where the heat is’ report in October 2021, which explores the UK housing market carbon issue, as well as potential solutions and opportunities.

Green Mortgages. Our residential and buy-to-let Green Mortgage products offer a lower interest rate for customers purchasing, porting or remortgaging a property with an EPC rating of A or B, rewarding them for choosing an energy efficient home. In Retail Banking, we have completed £1.4 billion of green mortgages since they were launched in Q4 2020, including £661 million in H1 2022.

Green retrofit pilot. With our Sustainable Homes and Building Coalition partners, we launched the Green Homes Retrofit Pilot. The pilot involves retrofitting the properties of 10 customers to improve their energy efficiency and will provide valuable information for other customers wanting to make their homes more climate friendly.

Green Homes Attitude Tracker. In September 2021 we launched our Green Homes Attitude Tracker, a quarterly survey supported by HIS Markit to track consumer awareness and engagement in the net-zero challenge. The survey helped us gain a deeper understanding of homebuyers’ views on environmental features and energy-saving improvements in their homes.

EPC ratings. Our EPC rating tool in our digital mortgage hub shows customers up-to-date information on the EPC rating of their property, helping them to become more aware of their domestic energy efficiency and take action to improve it.

Click here to read the full Climate Matters document that contains cautionary statements relating to this content. (PDF 3.9MB)

Please see NatWest’s 2021 Climate-related Disclosures Report for other information including about our financed emissions and heightened climate-related risk sectors.

 

Disclaimer:

This is for media use and not a financial promotion.

 

Information about Green Mortgages

Green Mortgages are available to over 18s purchasing or re-mortgaging a home with a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A or B. Product fees may apply. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.

 

NatWest - https://www.natwest.com/mortgages/mortgage-comparison/green-mortgages.html

RBS - https://www.rbs.co.uk/mortgages/mortgage-types-and-rates/green-mortgages.html

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