Green mortgages & greener home rewards

A solar & battery system can substantially cut your electricity bills, give you significant protection against rising energy prices – and help you qualify for a green mortgage.

Green mortgages and rewards are growing in popularity as lenders realise that encouraging customers to prioritise energy efficiency is a win-win for everyone involved.

As a result, you can earn cashback rewards, get a lower interest rate, or borrow thousands of pounds for green home improvements, depending on the mortgage.

In this guide, we’ll explain how green mortgages work, why lenders are so keen on them now, how you can qualify, and all the best options currently on the market.

A solar & battery system is one of the best ways to qualify for a green mortgage. Barclays, Halifax, and Lloyds Bank all offer £1,000 in cashback to mortgage customers who go solar with a certified installer like Sunsave.

So if you’re wondering how much you could save by going solar, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

What is a green mortgage?

A green mortgage offers customers a financial incentive to either buy an energy-efficient home, or take measures to increase a property’s energy efficiency after moving in.

Eligible homeowners can secure a lower interest rate on their mortgage, receive a cashback payment, or get an interest-free loan.

Green mortgage lenders that reward customers who buy an energy-efficient home usually require their property to achieve an A or B grade on its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

This is an assessment of how much energy your home requires each year based on its size and efficiency, and the sources of that energy.

How do they work?

Green mortgages and green home rewards work differently, depending on whether they’re meant to incentivise energy-efficient home purchases or improvements to an existing property.

Let’s run through all the most important details and real-world examples of these schemes.

Purchasing an energy-efficient property

If you’re buying a home with an EPC rating of A or B, many mortgage lenders will offer a better interest rate or cashback after you complete the purchase.

You may also be able to get a larger mortgage if you’re purchasing an energy-efficient home, though this is currently rarer.

Depending on which lender you choose, you can earn hundreds of pounds simply by sharing your new home’s EPC report.

For example, HSBC’s Energy Efficient Homes Cashback mortgage offers up to £750 to anyone purchasing or remortgaging a home with an EPC rating of A or B.

Nationwide, on the other hand, pays new mortgage customers £500 if their property has an A rating, and £250 if it gets 86-91 points – which is like a B+, since 81 is the lowest B score.

Of course, these cashback payments are small compared to the overall savings you could make with a lower interest rate.

Some of these rewards are only available to people getting their first mortgage on a property, some are open to any mortgage customers, and others require you to buy a new-build home.

The logic behind all these initiatives is that lower energy bills will enable you to more easily afford your mortgage payments.

Improving an existing property

Some lenders offer interest-free loans, larger mortgages, or cashback to customers who make energy-efficient home improvements to their property after moving in.

The cashback options are the simplest: if you have a mortgage with Barclays, Halifax, or Lloyds Bank, you’ll be able to claim up to £2,000 after getting an eligible home improvement.

Qualifying measures include heat pumps, solar & battery systems, and insulation.

Some lenders also offer more appealing loans to customers who want to make green home improvements, either on top of their mortgage or separately from it.

For instance, Nationwide mortgage holders can borrow between £5,000 and £20,000, interest free, and pay it back over two or five years.

They must use 100% of the borrowed amount on green measures like solar panels, heat pumps, and electric car chargers.

Other companies combine loans with cashback, like Santander, which pays £1,000 to customers who add at least £5,000 to their mortgage and use one of the bank’s partners for eco-friendly improvements.

In a slightly less generous move, Virgin Money gives £250 to mortgage holders who borrow and spend at least £2,500 on improvements.

Why do banks offer green mortgages?

Banks offer green mortgages to allow them to hit their net zero targets, stay competitive, and help ensure homeowners can afford their monthly payments.

An increasing number of UK financial institutions are committed to hit net zero by 2050, and that requires them to find ways of reducing household emissions.

14% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions come from residential buildings, according to the latest government data, which means lenders can have a huge impact in this area.

The reason this percentage is so high is because much of our housing stock is old, leaky, and inefficient.

15% of homes in England are substandard – the highest percentage of any country in Europe, according to the Home Builders Federation.

And 57% of homes in England and Wales have an EPC rating of D or below, compared to just 12% that are rated A or B, according to government data.

In 2019, there were just four green mortgages on offer for UK homebuyers. In 2024, there were 61, according to the Green Finance Institute.

This reflects the fact that banks can’t reach their net zero goals without helping homeowners to embrace a more energy-efficient future.

By creating a mortgage with an additional financial incentive – whether that’s a loan, lower interest rate, or cashback – a bank can also offer a more appealing product.

As more lenders jump on board, it’s becoming necessary to offer a green mortgage, just to keep pace with the competition.

And if green mortgages create more energy-efficient homes with lower bills, customers should theoretically be better placed to keep up with their payments – which creates a more secure income stream for lenders.

How can you qualify for a green mortgage?

There are two main ways to qualify for a green mortgage.

The first is to buy or remortgage a home with an EPC rating of A or B, and the second is to make an eligible green home improvement.

Requirements vary enormously between lenders, with some only rewarding people who buy new builds, some including just remortgaging customers, and others focusing entirely on new mortgage applicants.

And customers often have to stick to a specific time frame to qualify, particularly when it comes to making energy-efficient improvements. You’ll usually have a year after you finalise your mortgage, but it can be just a few months.

If you’re going green with the help of a loan, there will also be a requirement to spend a certain percentage or amount of that loan on the improvements.

It’s crucial to check the criteria behind each offer before you sign up – more on that later.

Thankfully, households can easily earn cashback by signing up for Sunsave Plus, the UK's first solar subscription, which removes the upfront cost of switching to solar.

You can earn hundreds of pounds on mortgages from several of the biggest lenders in the country, including Barclays, Halifax, and Lloyds.

If you’re wondering how much you could save, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

What green mortgages are available?

Green mortgages are now available from more than a dozen banks and building societies in the UK, including all the biggest financial institutions.

We’ll cover the most popular banks’ green mortgages first, then go through the eco-friendly products on offer from less well-known institutions.

Barclays

You can qualify for a mortgage with a lower interest rate if you purchase a new-build home with an EPC rating of A or B, directly from a builder or developer.

As with most of these mortgages, you’ll need to prove the property’s rating with an EPC report, or a Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA) if the home is still being constructed.

And if you already have a Barclays mortgage, you can claim up to £2,000 in cashback after making eligible green home improvements.

The £2,000 figure is only available to households that get a low-carbon heating method – like an air or ground source heat pump – but you can get £1,000 for installing solar panels and/or a battery, or £500 for most forms of insulation and double glazing.

Co-operative Bank

Anyone buying a property with an EPC rating of A or B can access a lower mortgage rate.

And once you’ve kept up your mortgage payments for six months, you may be able to borrow at least £5,000 more on top of your mortgage to make green home improvements.

You’ll need to spend at least half of the loan amount on energy-efficient upgrades like solar panels, air or ground source heat pumps, and electric vehicle chargers.

Halifax

Halifax offers £250 cashback if you're buying or remortgaging a property with an EPC rating of A or B – and you can get a bigger mortgage.

And once your mortgage is up and running, you can earn up to £2,000 if you finish a green home improvement within a year and have a Halifax current account.

The cashback figures are familiar: £2,000 for a heat pump, £1,000 for solar panels and/or a battery, and £500 for other improvements including double glazing and insulation.

HSBC

Customers can secure up to £750 in cashback if they buy or remortgage a home with an EPC rating of A or B.

Since HSBC launched its range of Energy Efficient Homes Cashback mortgages in March 2024, thousands of homeowners have signed up.

Lloyds

If you're buying or remortgaging a property with an EPC rating of A or B, you can get £250 from Lloyds.

And if you also have a Club Lloyds current account, you can secure up to £2,000 in cashback by getting an eligible green home improvement within a year of your mortgage starting.

If you’ve read this far, you’ll know what’s coming: you can get £2,000 if you had a heat pump installed, £1,000 for solar panels and/or a battery, and £500 for measures like double glazing and insulation.

Nationwide

New Nationwide mortgage customers can earn a cash reward for choosing a property with an EPC rating of A or B, but this scheme is stricter than most.

The building society pays out £500 for an A rating, and £250 for a B rating – but only if it’s a high B.

81 to 91 points is enough to get your property a B rating, but Nationwide requires eligible homes to score at least 86 points – a B+, if you will.

Mortgage customers can also borrow between £5,000 and £20,000, interest free, on top of their mortgage, as long as they use 100% of the loan to make green home improvements.

NatWest

You can get a lower interest rate if you buy or remortgage a property with NatWest that has an EPC rating of A or B.

One in eight properties in England and Wales have earned an A or B grade, according to government data, meaning they’re difficult to find, but far from impossible.

Santander

Santander provides a lower interest rate to customers who are remortgaging a property that boasts an EPC rating of A or B.

And the bank offers a whopping £1,000 to customers through their greener homes cashback scheme.

To be eligible, you have to add at least £5,000 to your mortgage and get green home improvements through one of Santander’s installation partners before 30 September 2025.

Virgin Money

You can take advantage of a lower interest rate from Virgin Money if you buy a new-build property with an EPC rating of A or B.

There’s also £250 in cashback available if you borrow at least £2,500 on top of your mortgage and spend at least that much on energy-efficiency measures.

You’ll have to register for this initiative, known as the Green Reward scheme, by the end of June 2025 to qualify.

Other banks, building societies, and lenders

If you’re interested in looking beyond the largest lenders in search of the best green mortgage or green home reward, there are plenty of options.

Smaller institutions have jumped on this trend over the past few years, as it becomes increasingly clear that energy-efficient upgrades are necessary for UK homes.

Coventry Building Society

Customers who’ve made at least six consecutive months of mortgage payments can borrow an additional amount up to £25,000.

You must spend at least 50% of your loan on green home improvements. If there’s any money left after you go green, you can either use it to make a partial loan repayment or spend it on more home improvements.

Using this scheme will also allow you to secure a lower interest rate on your mortgage.

Danske Bank

You can get a lower mortgage rate if you buy or remortgage a property with an EPC rating of A, B, or C.

Unfortunately for most UK mortgage customers though, this product is only available in Northern Ireland.

Gatehouse Bank

Gatehouse Bank offers its customers a lower interest rate if they buy or remortgage a property with an EPC rating of A or B.

The bank will also commit to offsetting your home's emissions for the length of your mortgage contract – though this is a service that most banks provide, albeit indirectly.

Kensington Mortgages

This specialist lender offers £500 in cashback to homebuyers who purchase a property with an EPC rating of A or B, through its eKo £500 Reward range of mortgages.

Leeds Building Society

This building society’s green mortgages provide a lower interest rate to customers who buy or remortgage a home with an EPC rating of A, B, or C.

Saffron Building Society

Customers who take out a mortgage with this east England building society have six months to improve their property’s EPC rating and qualify for an Energy Improvement Reward.

If they succeed in raising their home’s rating by at least a grade (to a minimum of an E rating), they can earn £500 in cashback and a 0.1% interest rate reduction.

Skipton Building Society

Mortgage customers who’ve made six consecutive payments can borrow between £5,000 and £50,000, depending on their circumstances.

At least 50% of this sum must be spent on green home improvements.

Swansea Building Society

You can get a lower interest rate on your mortgage if you buy or remortgage a home with an EPC rating of A or B.

Are green mortgages becoming more popular?

Green mortgages are becoming more popular at a rapid rate.

Customers could only access four green mortgages in 2019. Fast forward to 2024, and there were 61 on offer, according to the Green Finance Institute.

We’ve listed 17 different institutions that offer a variety of green mortgages and rewards, and more lenders are sure to join their ranks.

The rewards on offer aren’t necessarily the most inspiring – a few hundred pounds or a 0.1% interest rate reduction won’t change your life – but with lenders keen to meet their own green goals and provide better products than their rivals, this is just the beginning.

Switching to solar with your green mortgage

Going solar is a great way to take advantage of many green mortgages.

Barclays, Halifax, and Lloyds Bank all offer £1,000 in cashback to mortgage customers who go solar with a certified installer like Sunsave.

And if you get a mortgage from the Co-operative Bank, Nationwide, Coventry Building Society, or Skipton Building Society instead, you can borrow thousands of pounds to pay for measures including solar panels.

Santander and Virgin Money offer the same service, with the additional bonus of a cashback reward once your installation is finished. Santander is the only major lender that requires customers to use one of their solar partners to qualify for cashback.

With any other bank, you’re free to choose one of the best solar installers around, like Sunsave. This will help ensure your project sticks to the strict requirements imposed by lenders, which usually include financial and time-based limits.

The green rewards for going solar are appealing – and once you’ve received them, the benefits should continue apace. On average, you could save 86% on your electricity bills with a solar & battery system.

This figure is based on a sample of over 150 systems installed by Sunsave across England and Wales in 2024. The average system is 6.1kWp, with 54% of solar electricity used at home and 46% exported to the grid.

This savings level is all thanks to the high performance of modern solar panels and storage batteries, as well as historically generous export tariffs.

Your panels will dramatically reduce the amount of electricity you buy from the grid, and you’ll also earn money by selling your unused electricity to the grid.

If you’re wondering how much you could save by going solar, enter a few details below and we’ll provide an estimate.

Green mortgages: FAQs