It aims to educate customers on the bespoke retrofit options available to decarbonise their home
Virgin Money has partnered with energy tech specialist Sero and property portal Rightmove to support customers in their pursuit of greener homes as part of a new government project.
The lender is the lead organisation of Project POWER, working alongside Sero and Rightmove. The project is now in its discovery phase, and aims to educate customers on the bespoke retrofit options available to decarbonise their home and the benefits of doing so, while also providing affordable finance options to implement the changes.
Project POWER (Partnership Outputs Working to Enable Retrofit) is funded by the Green Home Finance Accelerator fund (GHFA), part of the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), a government initiative that aims to drive green finance innovation.
The project encourages consortium applications, supporting collaboration to increase the implementation of energy efficient home improvements to support the UK transition to Net Zero. The project looks to target and reduce the 16% of emissions that come from gas and electricity use in UK homes.
“To be part of the innovative Green Home Finance Accelerator project is important for Virgin Money as we look to reinforce our aspiration to halve our financed emissions by 2030 and deliver net zero by 2050,” Craig Calder (pictured), head of secured lending at Virgin Money, said.
“Working with industry experts Sero and Rightmove is an opportunity to research, test, and learn what consumers want before we take a proposition to market – enabling us to provide a great product for customers while at the same time making a positive impact on the environment.”
Cerys Williams, finance partnerships manager at Sero, stated that they were excited to be back working with Rightmove following their collaboration on the VALUER project, which was supported by the 2020 Green Home Finance Innovation fund.
“We’re equally thrilled to be venturing on a new partnership with forward thinking bank Virgin Money,” Williams said. “Through the Green Home Finance Accelerator, the collaboration aims to remove the upfront cost barrier facing many homeowners seeking to install appropriate retrofit measures within their home.”
Simon Dawson, director of data services at Rightmove, added that the Green Home Finance Accelerator project presents an important opportunity to try and help break down the complexity of retrofitting homes for homeowners, as the UK strives to hit Net Zero.
“Rightmove has put the green agenda at the forefront of our data and analytics, and by working with our collaboration partners Sero and Virgin Money and having access to virtually the entire UK property market, we aim to help educate people on the best options available to decarbonise their homes,” Dawson remarked.
Lord Callanan, minister for energy efficiency and green finance, said the government has put in place long-term commitments to ensure homes across the country have greater energy efficiency to reduce bills, drive down energy use and lower emissions.
“We are supporting these organisations to develop fresh and innovative ways of helping more people get better access to energy efficiency measures, such as loft insulation, double glazing and heat pumps,” the minister stated.
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