A new cross-industry partnership has been launched to help develop a mass market for green home finance in the UK, with backing from the UK Government, the Green Finance Institute and major lenders.
The Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership will be co-chaired by Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, Chief Executive of the Green Finance Institute, and Martin McCluskey, Minister for Energy Consumers. Participants include banks such as Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and NatWest.
Industry and consumer bodies are also represented, including Citizens Advice, the Energy Saving Trust, Energy UK, Nesta, UK Finance, the UK Green Building Council and the Finance and Leasing Association.
The partnership aims to scale green home finance solutions this decade, including loans and mortgage products to help homeowners, landlords and tenants improve energy efficiency. This includes financing for low-carbon heating, home solar installations and battery storage.
According to 2024 research by Barclays, seven in ten people in the UK want to improve their home’s energy efficiency, but many face affordability barriers. The initiative aligns with the government’s Warm Homes Plan, which includes low-cost loans for domestic solar, while limiting direct insulation support to low-income households.
Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas said the partnership shares a common goal of “scaling green home finance to make upgrades accessible for five million homes, creating warmer, healthier and more affordable living across the UK”.
The launch comes as the UK faces a major building decarbonisation challenge. The Climate Change Committee estimates that around a quarter of the emissions reductions required by 2037 must come from buildings, and that £373 billion will be needed to decarbonise the built environment by 2050—most of it from private capital.
Jatin Patel, co-head of retail banking at Barclays UK, said delivering the Warm Homes Plan “will require collaboration across industry”, adding that the partnership creates the network needed to make energy-efficient homes “both affordable and practical”.
