“Why would I not do it?” How our green retrofit mortgage slashed energy costs for a client

The money Dan saved from the refund helped to compensate the cost of fitting his property with double glazing. This one action was able to move his EPC rating from a D to a C – as well as cutting his heating bills. He was also able to take advantage of our Home Retrofit Service pilot scheme, working with global sustainability consultancy Anthesis to provide expert, impartial advice from a retrofit assessor.

“The guidance we got from the consultant who came was invaluable,” he says. “Even little tips like hanging your washing in a room with an open window will help it dry better and stop damp, especially in a London brick built house.

“The minor tips we’d never thought of really helped – he was trying to come up with short-term solutions to help us out. He was not pushy at all, and you could tell he loved what he did – I really liked how he looked out for the quirky things he could fix for us. In a few years, once we’ve made some more changes, we’ll look at having him back again to see what else we can do.”

The service takes a holistic approach to the whole property and Dan received some advice on making more substantial changes for the long term.

“The next big one is solar panels,” he says. “The consultant told us we’d need three or four to run the property and become completely self-sufficient – so as a household we’d be energy independent.

“We are in a conservation area but they do make panels and tiles to be congruously aesthetic for buildings like ours, so we’re hoping there should be no reason for them not to be approved. Installing panels will also give us a chance to improve the roof insulation.”

The other big saving could be in wall cavity insulation, adds Dan. “Thanks to the consultancy we know it’ll actually cost a lot, lot, less than we thought and should be a really unintrusive process. By insulating the wall cavities we should also be able to bring the EPC rating up from a C to a B.”

Dan’s personal retrofit journey also reflects the appetites of his own clients. As a mortgage broker, he’s already seen people walk away from properties because they don’t believe they’ll be able to improve their energy costs.

“One of my clients didn’t want to take on a property because they were conscious of potential changes to regulations and the need for properties to have better EPC ratings in time. They didn’t feel they’d be able to make those adjustments.”

That’s why Dan believes a retrofit mortgage and support service is so timely.

“I haven’t really seen similar offers on the high street or anywhere else from the major lenders,” he says.

“For me personally, we were always considering improving the property to help our overheads and the planet – but this gave us a great incentive to crack on. Now the first stage is done and dusted we’re thinking of all the other things we can do too.”

The assistance Coutts has given to Dan for this project is all part of our work as a B Corp – which helps us support our clients’ sustainability plans and show that financial goals need not come at the expense of the planet.