75% of over 55s haven’t heard of green mortgages despite the age groups ongoing efforts to be more environmentally friendly, according to research commissioned by equity release advisory firm, Age Partnership.
The research highlights that a staggering 80% of over 55s surveyed have done something over the past 12 months to be ‘greener’, such as shopping locally, recycling more at home, reducing meat consumption.
However, when it comes to green finance, many are still in the dark, as 75% reported to have never heard of green mortgages, despite its potential to be an accessible way to achieve a greener lifestyle.
Matt Stirland, executive director of later life lending at Age Partnership, said: “We commissioned this study as we were interested in our target audience’s appetite for green later life finance solutions.
“The first part of the study was to understand the over 55s behaviour around being green, exploring the barriers, as well as the levels of understanding.
“With 72% of over 55s saying that it’s important to be greener, it shows that there is definitely an appetite to make change.”
The survey went on to explore the attitudes of over 55s towards green mortgages, with 32% believing that the provider of the green mortgage would only invest in green products, and 6% believing that they would receive cashback on their mortgage if their home had green efficiencies.
Stirland added: “The findings gathered from the study are being shared with our panel of lenders to aid green finance product development.
“We just need to make sure that green later life finance matches up with expectations, and we educate the audience about the offering.”
