Warm Homes Plan Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership
The Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership is a new government-backed partnership designed to develop a mass market for green home finance as part of the Warm Homes Plan. Bringing together financial institutions, energy providers, consumer groups, and government it aims to expand access to universal financial products to help households install energy saving upgrades and cut bills, if and when they want to.
The Green Finance Institute will co-chair the partnership and use its market expertise to drive this growth through practical levers and interventions for both government and the lending sector. The Secretariat will be co-run by DESNZ and GFI with thematic Working Groups led by industry leaders to co-develop pilot projects, toolkits, and policy recommendations to stimulate product development and drive market growth. Working Groups will leverage wider cross-industry expertise in addition to the Steering Group members. Building on its success expanding green mortgages and loans, GFI will coordinate an industry Working Group to help design the financial solutions to help households access efficiency upgrades to cut bills, and enjoy warmer, cleaner homes.
“Our Warm Homes Plan will deliver upgrades and lower energy bills for up to five million homes across the country. To do this we will work with industry to make it easier for everyone to access a wide range of financing options that will make heat pumps and solar panels more affordable. Forming this Strategic Partnership with some of the biggest names in finance, research and innovation, and consumer protection will ensure the financing and support is there to upgrade the nation’s homes and drive down bills for good.”
Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey and Co-Chair of the Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership
“This partnership established as part of the Warm Homes Plan unites banks to deliver green finance products, consumer advocates to represent households, government to enable access through grants and loans, and industry to drive energy efficiency upgrades. Together, these stakeholders share one goal: scale green home finance to make upgrades accessible for 5 million homes, creating warmer, healthier, and more affordable living across the UK.”
Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chair of the Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership
Governance structure
Co-Chairs:
- Martin McCluskey, Minister for Energy Consumers at Department for Energy & Net Zero
- Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE, Chief Executive Officer at the Green Finance Institute
Secretariat provided by: DESNZ Green Home Finance Team and GFI Built Environment Programme
Steering Group members:
- Jatin Patel, Member of UK Executive Team and Co‑Head of Retail Banking for Barclays UK
- Dame Clare Moriarty, Chief Executive at Citizens Advice
- Mike Thornton, Chief Executive at Energy Saving Trust
- Dhara Vyas, Chief Executive at Energy UK
- Shanika Amarasekara MBE, Chief Executive Officer at the Finance and Leasing Association
- Jose Carvalho, Chief Executive Officer of Retail Banking and Wealth for HSBC UK
- Andrew Asaam, Homes Director and Member of the Consumer Lending Executive Committee, Lloyds Banking Group
- Henry Jordan, Group Director of Mortgages and Member of Executive Committee at Nationwide
- Barry Connolly, Managing Director for Home Ownership & Customer Borrowing, and Member of the Executive Committee of NatWest Retail Bank
- Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive Officer at Nesta
- David Postings, Chief Executive at UK Finance
- Simon McWhirter, Chief Executive Officer at UK Green Building Council
Working Groups:
- UK Finance will chair Working Group 1 which will focus on innovation and incentives
- Green Finance Institute will chair Working Group 2 which will focus on providing industry insight to help shape the government-backed loan initiatives
- Nesta and the Finance & Leasing Association will co-chair Working Group 3 which will focus on driving demand and standardised consumer journeys
- Energy UK will chair Working Group 4 which will focus on enhanced consumer protections and standards (as relating to finance)
The Taskforce’s Terms of Reference.
FAQs
Please note that the following FAQs relate to the GFI's role in the Warm Homes Plan Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership.
1. What is the Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership?
Over its planned 12-month lifespan, the Partnership, which is backed by government, consumer groups, finance, and industry, will work together to remove barriers and unlock innovative products for owner-occupiers and private landlords.
Focused on practical delivery, the Partnership will agree a shared roadmap for scaling green home finance products, develop practical solutions for lenders and government to take forward, and begin widening access to affordable home upgrade finance.
Financial solutions will likely include products such as green mortgages, unsecured green home loans, Property Linked Finance, and subscription/Heat-as-a-Service models, and potentially more. The products will leverage a combination of public and private money, with grants expected to support for fuel-poor households and low-interest financial solutions to deliver appropriate financial solutions for all, as appropriate.
2. Who is involved in this work?
The Green Home Finance Strategic Partnership will work collaboratively with financial institutions, energy providers, consumer groups, and government to build on previous programmes and initiatives. The Partnership Steering Group includes C-suite and relevant Executive Committee representation from Barclays, Citizens Advice, Energy Saving Trust, Energy UK, Finance and Leasing Association, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, NatWest , Nesta, UK Finance, and the UK Green Building Council. The Working Groups will include wider representation from across the relevant sectors.
3. What will the Working Groups focus on?
The Partnership’s Working Groups focus on developing practical solutions and strategies to address finance and the consumer journey.
- UK Finance will chair Working Group 1 which will focus on innovation and incentives
- Green Finance Institute will chair Working Group 2 which will focus on providing industry insight to help shape the government-backed loan initiatives
- Nesta and the Finance & Leasing Association will co-chair Working Group 3 which will focus on driving demand and standardised consumer journeys
- Energy UK will chair Working Group 4 which will focus on enhanced consumer protections and standards (as relating to finance)
4. What gaps in the current home energy financing landscape are you aiming to fill?
Although many banks already offer these products, further policies are essential to enhance their accessibility in-line with the universal ambition as set out in the UK Government’s Warm Homes Plan. This includes measures to increase demand for the technologies and ensure financial solutions do not present obstacles. Government support is crucial in mitigating risks, lowering borrowing costs, and standardising assessments and consumer protections, particularly for emerging technologies like heat pumps and solar panels. These technologies have varying payback periods and performance based on property types.
Consumer protection and the Credit Consumer Act (CCA) are also key considerations. According to UK Finance, 54% of consumers see high upfront costs as the main barrier to installing heat pumps, while 44% would switch if the savings were more transparent. Moreover, research indicates that the UK needs to significantly increase the installation rates of heat pumps to meet future demands.
5. What role will GFI play as co-chair?
As Co‑Chair alongside the Minister for Energy Consumers, Martin McCluskey MP, GFI CEO Dr Rhian‑Mari Thomas OBE will guide strategic direction, ensure alignment between public and private finance and help remove market barriers to scaling green home upgrades. Her role is to convene industry, government and consumer groups to co‑design solutions that can be deployed rapidly and at national scale.
If your organisation would like to explore ways to get involved in the Partnership, please get in touch with the Green Finance Institute team at built.environment@gfi.green