Bid to resuscitate Green Deal for buy to let investors and others

An attempt is underway to resuscitate the Green Deal which many buy to let and other residential property investors used to improve the energy efficiency of their homes.

Greenstone Finance and Aurium Capital Marketshave acquired the business and assets of the Green Deal Finance Company, as well as its existing loan book with a principal value in excess of £40m. 

Greenstone invests in organisations focused on financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and Aurium is a structured finance company with a focus on renewable energy; the new ownership will continue to service the existing Green Deal loans and will commence financing of new Green Deal loans in this first quarter of 2017.

First launched by the government in 2013, the Green Deal was established to address the fact that the UK has some of the most thermally inefficient housing in Europe. Green Deal loans provide customers with accessible financing to improve their homes by installing energy efficiency products. 

In particular, Green Deal financing has traditionally helped those who face the heavy costs of a new boiler or other essential measures but who can’t afford the upfront costs, plus those who want to increase the value of their homes through installing renewable energy or energy efficiency measures, and critically landlords requested by tenants to install energy efficiency improvements (or, as of April 2018, landlords who own properties that fall below the new minimum EPC rating of E).

Green Deal loans not only offer competitive interest rates, but are more easily managed as loans are repaid as part of a customer’s energy bill. Furthermore, the loan remains with the property and is paid by the energy bill payer from time to time, thus ensuring the payments are made by the person who benefits from the energy saving.