The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will collaborate with ING Australia to deliver low-rate green home loans as a sub-account for clean energy technologies. This is the third investment from the Household Energy Upgrades Fund (HEUF).
Under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by both parties, the CEFC will consider investing up to $75 million to help finance the $150 million ING Green Upgrade Loan program.
The CEFC finance is expected to help deliver a fixed rate of 3.74 per cent, representing a discount of two per cent on an ING Fixed Rate Home Loan for the first five years of the loan. On an ING Green Upgrade Loan balance of $50,000, a customer could save up to $5,000 over the first five years.
Melanie Evans, CEO of ING, said, “We’ve designed our Green Upgrade Loan based on feedback from customers and mortgage brokers, which indicates that retrofitting is complex and time-consuming. If we want to accelerate decarbonisation, we must remove the complexities and barriers preventing people from making their homes more energy-efficient.”
Under the ING Green Upgrade Loan, eligible ING mortgage customers can apply to borrow up to $50,000 to install a range of clean energy technologies to improve energy efficiency, reduce energy use and cut emissions. The discount rate will be available to ING mortgage customers. Eligible technologies include battery-ready solar PV, batteries and inverters.
Borrowers can utilise the Home Energy Helper, which is delivered in collaboration with BOOM! Power, which can recommend appropriate clean energy technology upgrades designed to reduce energy costs and emissions based on a household’s existing systems and appliances.
CEFC CEO, Ian Learmonth, said that helping households lower their carbon footprint is a critical factor in achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
“Our work crowding in additional private capital through the HEUF will help deliver a catalytic outcome, providing low-cost financing and a range of co-financiers for home upgrades that improve energy performance.”
Ms Evans said, “Household emissions are one of the biggest contributors to Australia’s carbon footprint, which is why we are doing all we can to help customers upgrade their homes to reduce their household emissions. We have created an experience that is stress-free and customer-focused.”
The Federal Government has allocated $1 billion to the CEFC to create the HEUF and fast-track sustainability improvements in existing housing by providing discounted consumer finance through a broad range of co-financiers.
The CEFC has engaged extensively with the sector and received proposals from a wide range of financiers, including major banks, mutual banks, non-banks and fintech innovators. The proposals covered green mortgages, green personal loans and other innovative green finance products to improve home energy performance for homeowners, renters and strata properties.
The CEFC has received proposals for investment opportunities worth more than $850 million in green loans. Since then, it has announced investments via the HEUF worth some $220 million. It continues to work with a range of lenders to develop products that could be financed through the HEUF, and further commitments are expected in 2025.
The HEUF builds on the CEFC’s experience in designing and leading the green home and personal loan markets and the uptake of clean energy technologies through its consumer finance programs and investments, helping to improve energy efficiency across the property sector.
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