JLM Mortgage Services has become the first mortgage and protection network in the UK to offer a Carbon Neutral house-buying process to all its purchase clients.
Working with Carbon Neutral Britain – the UK’s Carbon Offsetting Initiative – JLM has identified the carbon emissions involved in every single house purchase it completes, from the time the client begins looking for a property, through their contact with a JLM adviser or AR firm, and including all carbon emitted by those involved in the process including estate agents, surveyors, solicitors, and others.
As a result of that work, Carbon Neutral Britain has estimated all emissions involved to be 0.338kg CO²e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalent) per purchase completed.
This estimate covers all activity by all parties in the process. It has been calculated from the point the client first clicks on their mouse to begin viewing properties on a portal, and includes all their dealings with the adviser, lender and other practitioners, through to the estate agent and surveyors travelling and visiting the properties, to the end process when the removal company moves them in.
Free of charge to the client, JLM will now offset 1000kg CO²e for each purchase completion to ensure all emissions are offset delivering a Carbon Positive Mortgage Application process.
By doing this all JLM purchase clients will be provided with Climate Positive status, which will be documented and they will receive a certificate to see how that carbon is being offset, the trees that are being planted, and the projects that are being supported.
As a business, JLM is also offsetting its own Carbon Footprint reversing all its impact on climate change through 2022 and in the years ahead.
Carbon Neutral Britain helps businesses and individuals reduce their emissions and offset their remaining Carbon Footprint, working on certified projects in Britain and around the world that reduces the amount of CO²e in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Certified by the Verra – Verified Carbon Standard (VCS, the Gold Standard – Voluntary Emission Reductions (VER) or the United Nations – Certified Emission Reductions (CER) programmes, the projects have been selected based on their direct and indirect impact around the world, not just in offsetting, but supporting education, employment and clean water, as well as having a net positive impact on the local wildlife and ecology.
JLM Mortgage Services is an authorised network offering both experienced and new advisers, and AR firms, access to a range of mortgage lenders and protection providers, with a full range of services and complete compliance coverage.
Sebastian Murphy, head of mortgage finance at JLM Mortgage Services, said: “Today we begin the process of ensuring the carbon emitted during the home buying process is offset for every single purchase completion that JLM are involved with.
“And we are not just doing this by the amount Carbon Neutral Britain estimate is emitted during that purchase but by significantly more, meaning JLM purchase clients get a Carbon Positive Mortgage Application process they can trust, and they can see exactly what is being done to offset the carbon that has been the result of their purchase case.
“Over the last year, the industry has talked a lot about the environment impact of our homes, what is required in order to meet the emission targets, and what both homeowners and we as an industry could, and should, be doing to support that.
“We felt it was time to ensure that we backed up the talk with action, and not only will we be offering this free of charge to all purchase clients who use JLM for their advice, but as a business we have moved to a Carbon Neutral status.
“This is such a huge issue it can seem overwhelming in terms of what we can do as both individuals and businesses within our marketplace. However, there are positive changes we can make and we would urge other businesses – indeed all businesses – within our industry to explore what else they can be doing to also make those changes required.”
