Sustainability, cost-of-living and energy crisis. Would you like more than just a mortgage lender?

The news is awash with environmental, green and sustainability topics at the moment, and rightly so! The bigger picture is about our longer-term choices and actions, which have significant implications on future generations. However, inadvertently, the current worrying rise in energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis brings the sustainability agenda to the forefront and into the living rooms of UK households at a much faster pace. ?Learning about sustainability not only helps us make ethical choices that will benefit future humanity, but it also builds our knowledge on how we can improve our lives and homes right now. This is an ideal time to be looking at carbon efficiency when fuel prices are going up.?

In my opinion, the role of lenders today extends far beyond products and profits. We have a duty to play our part in tackling global challenges, a process known as ESG, aligning environmental, social and governance factors into business decisions.

At Skipton Building Society, as part of our Green Mortgage strategy,?our vision is to help more people live in greener, more energy efficient homes and one of the ways we aim to help deliver this is by providing educational support. Under the UK Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, their ambition is for as many residential properties as possible to be graded with a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or above by 2035. We want to help our mortgage customers understand their current EPC rating and their maximum potential rating, so they can consider retrofitting their homes.

As a way of helping our mortgage customers, we’ve teamed up with Vibrant, an experienced provider of EPCs to the residential sector in the UK, who have 100s of assessors located nationwide and help tens of thousands of people each year. Vibrant are part-owned by Connells Group, a Skipton Building Society Group company. We are giving our mortgage customers the option to book an appointment for a free EPC Plus. The EPC Plus provides the standard EPC rating of their home, with recommendations to bring their homes up to their “potential” EPC rating, plus help identifying if they’re eligible for any government-funded schemes available through local authorities and installers. Vibrant can also obtain price estimates from their panel of carefully selected suppliers on request and, for a fee, they can even project-manage any works on the customer’s behalf.

What you need to know about the offer

·????????Vibrant’s project management service is subject to a separate agreement between the customer and Vibrant.

·????????This offer is not available on properties constructed within the last 10 years.

·????????Only available for property the Skipton Building Society mortgage customer owns; the offer is not transferable.

·????????Maximum of 10 free EPC Plus reports per mortgage customer. One free report per property.

·????????For landlords in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the new EPC rating of the property may affect their ability to let the property out, for example if the EPC rating is below the minimum standard required. It’s important that they understand this impact when requesting an EPC Plus. If they’re unsure how an EPC could impact their property, we recommend seeking their own independent legal advice.

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Full information about this offer, including terms and conditions can be found at: www.skipton.co.uk/epc-plus??

There aren’t many times you get free technical advice that could identify opportunities to improve your home and your environmental footprint, and potentially save you money on your energy bills. Put simply, we believe this is a great offer for your Skipton mortgage customers to benefit from in the future.

Jonathan Evans

National Accounts Lead

Skipton Building Society

These views are Jonathan’s own.