Gateway Bank’s multiple award-winning Green Home Loan portfolio grew by over 60 per cent in the last year as both cost-conscious and environmentally focused borrowers looked to enhance the energy efficiency of their homes.
Gateway Bank’s multiple award-winning Green Home Loan portfolio grew by over 60 per cent in the last year as both cost-conscious and environmentally focused borrowers looked to enhance the energy efficiency of their homes.
The increasing cost-of-living pressures, particularly around energy costs, and the impact of climate change have driven increased demand in green lending as consumers seek to make their homes more energy-efficient to help reduce energy bills and their impact on the environment with solar panels and battery storage systems and reduction of heat transfer with insulation and double-glazed windows.
While the green lending sector remains a small segment of the overall market, it is clearly on an upward trajectory and one which Gateway sees continuing to grow in demand and importance. Gateway ultimately believes green lending will become a mainstream offering in the market, driven by changes to building regulations and, more importantly, from consumer demand.
For Gateway, our Green Home Loan product offering forms a pillar of our Pocket & Planet purpose in which we strive to both help our members financially, while also providing sustainable products and services that help reduce impact on the environment.
Many lenders will have different rationales for offering green loan options to brokers and their clients and this will continue to grow in demand as more lenders start to move into the green lending space.
For Gateway, we’ve been in the market for a number of years now and are able to support brokers and their clients to adopt green loans sooner, as we see it not just as an important and growing segment, but one which aligns with our Pocket & Planet purpose.
One of the key drivers of growth in the green lending segment will be the increased awareness and uptake of energy efficiency certification through bodies such as Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) and Green Star Home from Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
Gateway provides a range of green home loan products, such as our Green Plus Home Loan that is ideal for owner-occupiers and investors alike, offering a 0.25 per cent p.a. discount from our standard Premium Package Home Loan for the life of the loan on properties with either a 7-Star NatHERS rating or a Green Star Home certificate from GBCA.
We also have a Green Commercial Mortgage with a 0.15 per cent p.a. discount on our standard Commercial Property Loan rate for properties with appropriate certifications.
We’re particularly proud that our Green Plus Home Loan has been recognised in recent years by Mozo and Finder as an award-winning green home loan offering. In addition, our Green Home Loan Owner Occupied products have also been certified by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).
At Gateway, we’ve invested early and heavily in the green lending sector as we believe it’s the right thing to do and that it will become an increasingly significant segment of the market. The growth trends we’re seeing in our green loan portfolio, coupled with the continued challenges of climate change and the increasing opportunities of transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy, will ensure this sector will continue to rise in popularity and importance in the market.
