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Welsh Government to include energy efficiency in Help to Buy mortgage calculator
The Welsh Government will make energy efficiency part of the equity loan affordability calculator in its Help to Buy scheme.
The move means applicants will be allowed to borrow more to secure a mortgage on more energy efficient homes.
Rebecca Evans, housing and regeneration minister for the Welsh Government, will announce the plans at the UK Finance Annual Cymru Mortgage Lunch today.
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“From this June, the Help to Buy Wales equity loan affordability calculator will include an energy efficiency element,” she will say.
“This means when people look to see how much they can afford they will be given different options depending on the energy efficiency of the property they are looking to buy, and loans will be adjusted according to the energy rating of the home they choose.
“A more energy efficient home costs less in bills, so buyers will be able to afford to borrow more. We know that energy spending can be a major household outgoing, which is why we want to make energy efficiency part of the consideration when people look to buy a home in Wales.”
The Welsh Government is the first organisation in the UK to unveil such a policy.
It has been developed with the Wales arm of the Building Research Establishment.
Mortgage lenders will not be required to change their existing practices or affordability assessments, but Ms Evans said she hopes “to see them follow our lead and make energy efficiency part of the mortgage consideration for all homebuyers in Wales.”
