In brief:
- Kamma and Octopus Real Estate are teaming up to deliver the strongest possible business case for retrofit, combining preferential rates with market-leading retrofit optimisation technology to make upgrades a ‘no brainer’ for Octopus Real Estate customers
- Octopus Real Estate’s brokers and customers now have direct access to Kamma’s Retrofit Explorer tool – designed to provide an accurate and transparent view of the upfront cost and return-on-investment of retrofitting a UK home, as well as suggesting a cost-effective approach to energy upgrades
- Octopus Real Estate’s suite of green finance options also provide preferential interest rates to landlords and developers who improve the energy efficiency of their properties, driving green lending activity by reducing costs and increasing incentives.
Introducing the Octopus Real Estate and Kamma partnership
Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Investments and a leading specialist real estate investor and lender, and climate tech company Kamma have announced a new partnership that combines innovative green lending products with leading retrofit optimisation technology.
The partnership embeds Kamma’s market-leading Retrofit Explorer tool directly into Octopus Real Estate’s website, helping increase the uptake of retrofitting in the UK and drive green residential lending.
Octopus Real Estate is committed to funding the delivery of quality, sustainable homes across the UK – playing their part as a lender in driving decarbonisation.
This includes providing innovative green lending opportunities to encourage customers to make retrofit improvements to increase the energy efficiency of their homes. Their refurbishment loans fund up to £200,000 of works, and borrowers who use this to improve their EPC benefit from a 1.8% per year discount on the interest rate.
With the oldest housing stock in Europe, more than half of England’s homes fail to meet EPC band C – the lowest rating a property can receive and qualify as energy efficient.
However, the challenge remains to offer borrowers insight as to how they can make changes to their investment property and qualify for the discount. Studies have consistently shown that homeowners are put off from retrofitting due to the perceived high upfront costs, an unknown ROI, and a lack of education on where to start.
This partnership is specifically designed to overcome these key barriers by combining Octopus Real Estate’s preferential interest rates that reward green behaviours, with Kamma’s cost-optimisation technology that finds the most cost-effective retrofit package for homeowners and landlords.
As Kamma’s Chief Growth Officer, Joe Webb, commented:
“Retrofitting offers benefits on many levels, reducing emissions, saving on energy bills and even adding to asset value. It further reduces transition risk, supports transition planning and limits financed emissions for lenders. In this context the lack of actual activity in the market has been surprising. We aim, for the first time, to make these benefits clear to consumers and lenders alike, driving up retrofit activity and driving down emissions and energy bills.”
Through the partnership, Retrofit Explorer will be available to Octopus Real Estate’s brokers, alongside the existing preferential rates available to customers who make energy upgrades.
Together, this will make retrofit a no-brainer, unlocking the market for green lending solutions and driving the decarbonisation of UK housing.
Commenting on the partnership Steve Matthews, Head of Residential Lending at Octopus Real Estate said:
“We want to offer genuine incentives to customers seeking to borrow to improve their property investments. We’re delighted to partner with Kamma who clearly illustrate the benefits from making positive changes. Together we’re aiming to drive genuine change and improve the availability of quality, sustainable homes”.
🏠 Interested in partnering to increase the uptake of your green lending offering?
We’d love to chat about how we could replicate the success of the Kamma and Octopus Real Estate partnership to increase home retrofit and green mortgage uptake for your organisation.
Get in touch ➡️
