Credit crunch 'will limit availability of green mortgages'
Published On 13 March 2008
The international credit crunch will mean that lenders will be unlikely to bring new green mortgages to the UK market in the coming months, an industry expert has predicted.Green mortgages include schemes which help homeowners reduce their impact on the environment. These can range from planting 40 trees for every green mortgage taken out to donations to carbon offsetting charities.
Other lenders offer the option to borrow more money at a preferential rate if it is to be used to improve the environmental efficiency of the home.
It was widely predicted that green mortgages would become increasingly popular in the UK.
However, Darren Cook, head of mortgages for Moneyfacts, explained that the credit crunch could limit the availably to these products.
He added: "I think [the green mortgage market] is going to be static.
"The lenders who are in the [green mortgage] marketplace at the moment will probably continue, but I don't think there's going to be a big [move] towards additions to the market.
"I'd be surprised if we suddenly saw a large amount of new lenders coming into the green mortgage area, at the moment."
In yesterday's Budget, the chancellor revealed that he wanted to introduce measures to encourage more lenders to offer long-term fixed-rate mortgages.
