Lifetime lender Spry Finance has introduced a new “green” loan at a slightly discounted rate. The product is aimed at older borrowers who either have energy efficient homes or are looking to invest to make their homes more efficient.
Spry said the Green Lifetime Loan was designed “to make it easier for older people to retrofit their home and save money on their heating and electricity bills, while living more sustainably”.
Borrowers will have to have a home with a building energy rating (BER) of B3 or better. Alternatively, they can undertake to commission home improvements that will achieve that B3 rating within 12 months, or commit to spending at least half of the sum borrowed to improve energy efficiency even if it does not bring their home up to B3 standard.
We know from talking to our own customers that home improvements are high on their list of reasons for taking out a lifetime loan
Spry Finance’s lifetime loans allow customers over the age of 60 to roll up the interest payments along with the capital sum, with the whole figure paid off when they either sell the property or die. Customers can make interest payments if they have the financial capacity to do so and choose to.
The new green loan will carry an interest rate of 6.25 per cent, Spry said, 0.2 of a point below the lender’s standard rate of 6.45 per cent, a traditional practice among provider of green loans.
David Brady, director of business development for Spry Finance, said it was introducing the Green Lifetime Loan “to meet demand from an age demographic, the over-60s, which is underserved by traditional financial institutions”.
“We know from talking to our own customers that home improvements are high on their list of reasons for taking out a lifetime loan,” Mr Brady said. “At Spry Finance, we don’t see any reason why the over-60s should be excluded from green loans.”
