By Rachael Hunnisett, Green Mortgage Campaign Lead, Green Finance Institute.

First published in Society Matters magazine.

You will likely be no stranger to the term 'green mortgage', with the number of green mortgage products increasing from 3 in 2017 to 51 in 2022. But what is a green mortgage?

In my work leading the Green Mortgage Campaign at the GFI, I have asked this question across the mortgage  industry.

It may not be a surprise to learn that I received more answers on what a green mortgage isn’t, rather than what  it actually is. Through campaigning it is our mission at the Green Finance Institute (GFI) to enable a scalable  green mortgage market, which plays a significant role in improving the energy efficiency of UK homes – which  will be vital given almost 20% of carbon emissions come from our homes.[1] We are in the design and scoping phase of the campaign, so I thought I’d share my early thinking on the direction of travel:

Collaboration is key when it comes to green mortgages, unlike many instances in product design. We could liken it to putting the cart before the horse as usually in product design you start with consumer demand and build out from there. We are in a unique environment where we have a brief window of time before consumer  demand gains pace.  This differs from the usual product design process. It is a unique mind who can think of a solution to a problem their customer doesn’t realise they have yet. Thankfully, there are plenty of unique and  wonderful minds creating solutions. Our Broker’s Handbook – produced in collaboration with leading industry experts, including the BSA – proves that working in partnership often drives better results.