Mortgage News

Green mortgages 'still a niche product' - 17/01/2008

Excellent! Very Good Good Fair Poor

Why not be the first to rate this article?

The current rate-driven mortgage market may see green mortgages remain "very much a niche product" this year, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society has suggested.

Green mortgages, which are also sometimes referred to as sustainable or ethical mortgages, have been on the market for a decade, but Allison Rolls of the building society said that the growth rate for the products has been slow.

"It's much slower to grow than would be good for the environment," she said, adding that many first-time buyers are more enticed by competitive rates than environmental benefits when seeking a mortgage product.

"It would be nice to think that they put the environment more on their shopping list, but at the moment it's a fact that it's all about rates and less about ethics," she commented.

However, she admitted more and more people seem to be expressing an interest in green mortgage products and that the market may be fuelled in part by people who have made new year's resolutions to be more eco-friendly.

According to Mortgages.co.uk, there are currently three lenders offering green mortgage products - the Co-operative Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society and Ecology Building Society.

© Adfero

Back to Index