Heating and Ventilation News
UK Environmental Audit Committee has said the recent failure of the Green Homes Grant has raised the stakes to ensure effective long-term incentives are in place for more efficient homes and heating
Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee has said the government’s upcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy must introduce coherent and immediate plans to improve domestic energy efficiency after the recent failures of the Green Homes Grant.
Audit committee Chair Philip Dunne MP argued that a failure to set out clear incentives and support for delivering efficiency improvements across the entire UK housing stock in the already delayed plan could massively jeopardise the country’s 2050 net zero carbon aims.
By Bill Thornhill
06 May 2021
Green covered bonds no longer have to be reinvented in the face of rising sustainability-linked issuance because banks are now safe in the knowledge that they comply with the EU’s Taxonomy of Sustainable Activities.
In early April, the draft wording of the Taxonomy had suggested that eligible mortgage collateral should have an Energy Performance Certificate of ‘A’ or ‘B’. These are the highest tiers and are largely out of reach for many issuers in several jurisdictions.
The Taxonomy’s heavy reliance on EPC labelling drew howls of protest from the market as this would have effectively shut out green covered bonds. In those bleak days it seemed issuers would be obliged to adapt and develop other strategies.
Barclays Mortgages has expanded the availability of its Green Home Mortgages.
As a result, it will now include any newly built property purchased directly from the builder or developer with an energy efficiency rating of 81 or higher, or an energy efficiency band A or B.
Mortgage applicants will need to provide for fully built properties, a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), or a valid Predicted Energy Assessment certificate if the property remains under construction.
The proportion of quarterly or annual bonuses that will be considered as part of an affordability assessment has been increased from 25% to 50%.
Customers and brokers do not need to do anything differently when recording bonuses during in application; the system will automatically apply the relevant calculations.
By Bill Thornhill
04 May 2021
The Pfandbrief market is in the middle of a tumultuous year which includes not only the adoption of the EU s Covered Bond Directive but also digesting the bloc s Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities. Of course, this is all happening against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, which have hit the commercial real estate market that underpins much of the product. Jens Tolckmitt, chief executive of the Association of German Pfandbriefbanks (vdp), spoke to GlobalCapital about how the market has coped.
What are the main features of the Pfandbrief legal amendments required by the transposition of the EU Covered Bond Directive and how do these impact investors and issuers?