The Green Finance Institute has hired Rachael Hunnisett as Green Mortgage Campaign Lead in its bid to boost UK’s the sustainable mortgage market.  

Hunnisett will focus on growing the green mortgage market by working with partners from across the industry to support homeowners to invest in upgrading the energy efficiency of their properties.  

She joins from Skipton Building Society where she worked for six years, most recently serving as National Accounts and New Build Lead. Hunnisett began her career in financial services in 2013, which has also seen her work as a mortgage broker.  

She will work closely with the group’s Built Environment Programme Director, Emma Harvey-Smith.  

The independent government-backed body was founded in 2019 following a recommendation made by the industry-led Green Finance Taskforce.  

The group says when it launched its Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings drive in 2019, there were only three green mortgage offerings in the UK.   

It adds that today are over 50 products on the market, with eleven UK banks and building societies launching green mortgage loans since the beginning of 2020, with five of those entering the market in the first four months of 2021.  

However, around £250bn needs to be invested in UK home upgrades by 2050, the UK Committee on Climate Change reported in its Sixth Carbon Budget in December 2020.  

The Green Finance Institute’s Harvey-Smith says: “The GFI will be focusing on the green mortgage sector in 2023 and beyond, looking to launch a series of guidance pieces and resources for brokers and lenders around best practice.”  

Hunnisett adds: “I have one simple objective; to establish a sustainable green mortgage market within UK lending, which is scalable and plays a significant role in greening UK housing stock.   

“I look forward to working collaboratively with colleagues at GFI, industry and government as we mobilise to affect real change.”