The lender hopes its Green Reward incentive, which is available across its entire purchase mortgage range, will encourage greener, more energy-efficient homeownership.

It said the cashback was now available on any property with a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) rating of at least 86+, which is equivalent to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A or a high B.

The majority of homes sold in the UK must have an EPC to inform prospective buyers how energy efficient the home is.

To encourage people to consider buying greener homes, Nationwide is offering more cashback to those purchasing the most energy-efficient properties.

Therefore, customers purchasing homes with an SAP rating of 92 or above (EPC-A rated) will benefit from £500 cashback. Meanwhile, those buying a property rated at SAP 86 to 91 (high EPC-B rating) will receive £250.

First-time buyers

The green boost could net first-time buyers a total cashback of £1,000 if they took out a mortgage with the Society on a property that is SAP 92+ (EPC A-rated), since the latest offer is in addition to the £500 cashback first-time buyers already receive when buying their first home with Nationwide.

Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s director of mortgages, said: “Our homes are where we have one of the biggest individual impacts on climate change, but more needs to be done to deliver a long-term plan to improve energy efficiency of new and existing homes.

“We remain committed to helping make the homes we lend on greener and more sustainable, which is why we have launched our new cashback offer for property purchases.

“By launching Green Reward, we hope it will encourage people to consider the energy efficiency of the property they are buying.

“We also recognise that there are people who will attempt to make their home greener and more sustainable, which is why we recently cut the rate on our Green Additional Borrowing product and are pleased to now offer this through mortgage brokers as we continue to play our part in helping to reduce the carbon emissions of the UK’s housing stock.”

More details

Green Reward is available to anyone purchasing any property, whether it’s an existing house, flat or new-build, taking out any of Nationwide’s mortgages either direct through the Society or via mortgage brokers.

After completion of the mortgage the Society will review the EPC register to check the rating of the property. Once the rating of the property has been confirmed, the Green Reward cashback will be paid to the buyer within four weeks of completion.

It comes after Nationwide cutting the rate on its Green Additional Borrowing product to 0.75% for loans of between £5,000 and £25,000.

The new rate, which is available up to 85% LTV and comes with no product fee, is the same regardless of what LTV level the borrowing is at.

The Green Additional Borrowing product is now available through mortgage brokers with the same rate as what is available via Nationwide directly.