The average size of a green loan was more than twice the value of an average personal loan in the first three months of this year, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has said.
A typical green loan was worth €22,432 for the first quarter while the average car loan for the same period was €12,901. Green loans are used for things that are considered environmentally friendly such as electric vehicles or upgrading a building’s energy rating.
BPFI head of sector research and analysis Anthony O’Brien said people who make home improvements for environmental reasons are doing so at larger scale today, with big-ticket items such as installing solar panels becoming more popular.
Mr O’Brien said environmental home improvements and electric vehicles come at a relatively high cost, which might explain why the figure for green loans is high.
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Green loans are one of the possibilities of financing environmental improvements as “the things they are investing in are deeper” and more long term, said Mr O’Brien.
The momentum for green loans is growing, with an increase of 38.8 per cent in volume on this time last year, said Mr O’Brien.
Overall, personal loans hit €551 million for January to March this year. That’s the second highest quarterly amount since the BPDI began tracking personal loan data.
Although green loans are increasing in popularity, they were still only worth €27.1 million overall. Car loans accounted for about €208 million – the highest level on record – while traditional home improvement loans were worth €166 million.
There were 49,770 personal loans covering cars (16,089), home improvements (16,089) and other purposes such as holidays and education (20,672).
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