Friday 31st August 2007
Mortgage hunters and home buyers do not necessarily compromise on their principles, as a range of new mortgage products for environmentally-minded consumers are coming on to the market.
So-called 'green mortgage' are becoming increasingly popular, with several lenders now offering mortgages that not only offer a favourable rate, but also offset carbon emissions, plant trees or make donations to environmental organisations as part of the deal.
Alison Pallett, managing director of personal lending UK for the Bank of Ireland, whose Giraffe branch offers such a product, said: "I think there is an overriding desire that we all want to be more environmentally conscious, but it is quite hard to balance that against the fact that we're also very price conscious as well.
"So that's been one of the reasons why we've particularly tried to aim our product into a very competitive part of the market, almost allowing people to not have that dilemma."
She added: "We're seeing a wide spread of people; so we're seeing some people who are remortgaging, some people who are purchasers and also some first time buyers."
Earlier in the week, the Liberal Democrats recommended green mortgages - which might offset carbon as well as offering cash to make homes more environmentally-friendly - as part of a wider set of proposals on how to halt climate change.
Environmental factors are increasingly coming to the forefront of home-buyers minds, with over 60 per cent of buyers telling Halifax they wanted environmentally-friendly features in their homes and the National Home Improvement Council Insulation recommending that making environmentally friendly home improvements such as installing insulation, solar panels or wind turbines can add to the value of a property.
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Mortgages
As Gordon Brown urges the rest of the world to follow his lead and pump billions of pounds of tax payer’s money into the banking system you could be mistaken for thinking that he has gone from zero... 
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