Perenna will use the grant funding to refine and launch its retrofit mortgage product to market
Long-term fixed rate mortgage lender, Perenna, has secured a spot in the UK Government’s Green Home Finance Accelerator to design a new retrofit mortgage.
Perenna will use the grant funding to refine and launch its retrofit mortgage product to market. The product aims to solve the biggest hurdles to decarbonising UK properties and encourage homeowners to make energy efficiency improvements to their homes.
The project is funded by the NZIP under the DESNZ as part of the department’s Green Home Finance Accelerator. The Green Home Finance Accelerator was established to support the design and development of innovative green finance products that incentivise domestic energy efficiency and low carbon heating retrofit.
As per the UK Green Building Council, nearly every existing property in the UK will need some sort of retrofit, which is equivalent to 29 million homes. The Climate Change Committee estimates that an investment of nearly £250 billion will be required to fully decarbonise homes by 2050.
Unlike other green mortgages, the Perenna retrofit mortgage will focus on homes that need to be upgraded, instead of homes which are already energy efficient. Perenna will offer consumers all the benefits of its flexible long-term fixed rate mortgage, launched in the final quarter of 2023, with the additional benefits of a green rate discount being rewarded for lowering energy usage. Customers who complete a qualifying retrofit will see their mortgage rate switched to a lower rate and will benefit from lower monthly payments for the rest of their term.
Perenna says that for some customers with larger mortgages, its green discount could save them more than £60 per month, £720 per year, and £21,600 over 30 years (assuming they do not remortgage).
Arjan Verbeek, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Perenna, noted: Perenna wants to change the narrative on renewable energy technologies. There are too many hurdles currently to retrofitting a property, with confusing offers and unclear steps on what to do. This needs to change if we want to solve one of the biggest challenges for achieving net zero.
Verbeek said: We are delighted to be part of the Green Home Finance Accelerator and have the opportunity to work with Heatio and Energy Systems Catapult to pilot an innovative mortgage product that combines long term security with improvements in home energy efficiency.