Launch of the Green Home Finance Innovation Fund
The Green Home Finance Innovation Fund (GHFIF) is a government-funded competition designed to help the financial sector develop green home finance products, such as green mortgages. Green mortgages give customers discounted mortgage rates once they have upgraded the energy rating of their home.
Funding will be awarded to innovative projects that incentivise energy efficiency retrofitting. The scheme will support the development of lending products like equity loans and home improvement loans that will help homeowners make upgrades, for example offering energy efficiency advice, access to trusted installers and preferential mortgage interest rates to support them in making energy improvements to their homes.
The competition will make available approximately £4.63 million for a limited number of projects which develop innovative lending products, targeting any consumers who would not get support under government schemes. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which is administering the scheme, expects to fund a mixed portfolio of projects to ensure a spread of different green home finance approaches. BEIS anticipated funding between three and five projects with funding awarded in the region of £800,000 to £1.8 million.
UK-based financial institutions and mortgage lenders with a retail presence, for example banks, building societies or consumer finance organisations, may qualify for support. Partnerships with other organisations, such as the retrofit supply chain, energy suppliers and smart data/analytics companies, that could deliver energy assessments and retrofit are encouraged.
The deadline to submit Expressions of Interest is 26 September 2019.
More information about this funding opportunity and the application process is available on the GRANTfinder funding information platform. GRANTfinder provides up-to-the minute content, insight and analysis on funding news and policy. To find out more about how GRANTfinder can keep you in the know, and subscription fees, contact us today.
