Hinckley & Rugby Building Society has partnered with green retrofit specialist Retrogreen to create a new service.

The service is designed to help residential and investment property owners improve their property’s energy efficiency, and to overcome the barrier of affordability by covering the full cost of green retrofitting through a lower-rate green mortgage.

This new service directly supports one of the key elements of the COP28 Agreement, just announced (13 December). The resolution includes calling on countries to double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

Green retrofitting involves making changes that benefit both the property and the environment. These changes are designed to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, enhance comfort, improve the property’s EPC rating, and increase its value and desirability. The service provides customers with expert guidance that is with them all the way, from start to finish and beyond.

Hinckley & Rugby chief executive Colin Fyfe comments: “We have forged this partnership to support and help drive the UK’s Green Agenda. Many people are aware of green retrofitting, and know that it could benefit them hugely, but don’t fully understand it. We aim to be with them all the way on the journey to a greener, more energy efficient home.”

Green retrofitting has been in the public domain for several years, yet only a small number of properties have so far benefitted. In December 2022, Dr Salvador Acha of Imperial College London, said: “Studies show that the UK’s 28.6 million homes are among the least energy efficient in Europe, and lose heat up to three times faster than on the continent, making people poorer and colder.”