Kamma and Octopus Real Estate partner to make home retrofit a no-brainer

By Bridging Loan Directory 29th April 2024

Octopus Real Estate, part of Octopus Investments and a leading specialist real estate investor and lender, and climate tech company Kamma have today 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.

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 retrofit optimisation technology that finds the most cost-effective package for homeowners and landlords.

As Kamma 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”.