Renovation mortgage
If you’re inspired to bring a derelict property back to life or to improve your home’s energy efficiency our renovation mortgages have been designed with you in mind.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage
Trusted since 1981
Pioneers in providing energy-efficient renovation mortgages
Experts in specialist mortgages
We’ve lent to over 3,000 unique properties and projects
Flexible decision making
We take a case-by-case approach to every project
Discounts for energy-efficiency
Our C-Change discounts reward you for creating an energy-efficient home
Support for extensive works
We welcome projects that require substantial renovations
Open to the unusual
We’ll consider a wide range of non-standard construction types
We are experts in providing mortgages for unique renovation projects and we don’t have a ‘tick box’ approach to assessing projects – in many instances, we’ll welcome projects that standard lenders may not accept.
If you’re planning to bring a derelict property back to life, we’re here to help.
You may have found that some high street lenders can only offer a mortgage on habitable properties. This approach makes it hard to find the necessary funding to complete extensive renovation projects.
At Ecology, we’re not put off by the condition of the property; your project may be a shell without a roof or a historic building that has fallen into disrepair over the years. So, as long as the works required improve the energy efficiency of your building, we’ll consider lending.
We’ll look at:
- Buildings in a derelict condition
- Historic or listed buildings
- Fire damaged buildings
- Non-standard construction types, such as timber framed or thatched roofs
Our mortgages are available in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
We’ll lend money to help you buy and renovate the property.
Normally, we’ll release up to 90% of the purchase price or value of the property and subsequently, the money required for the renovation costs. As you continue with your renovation, staged payments of up to 90% of your increased property value will be released – this will help you keep tabs on your budget and planning.
This type of mortgage may be suitable if you are able to make a cash deposit on your property and fund the early stages of the build. We normally recommend 15% to 20% of your total budget as a good starting point to begin your renovation.
Once your renovation is complete and the energy efficiency of your property is improved, we can lower your interest rate through our C-Change discounts.
We’re committed to always giving you the best service that we can, with over 95% of Ecology borrowers rating us as very good or excellent.
You can speak directly to our dedicated team of specialist mortgage advisers who are experts in renovations and retrofits. We consider every project on a case-by-case basis and have extensive experience in non-standard properties, energy efficiency improvements and ecologically sound building practices.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has laid down detailed rules about the service we must offer on regulated residential mortgages. Under these rules, we will provide you with advice and a recommendation on which of the Society’s products is most suitable for you, based on your needs, preferences, and affordability.
The Government has launched a new scheme offering money to help homeowners make their homes more energy efficient.
The Green Homes Grant scheme provides homeowners with a voucher worth up to £5000 – or £10000 for low-income households – to help cover the costs of making energy efficiency improvements to your home.
This scheme complements our renovation mortgage offering, particularly for extensive retrofits and significant energy improvements.
For more information, please see our news article which explains how the scheme works and how you can apply for a grant.
Renovation Mortgage
- Energy efficient renovations rewarded through our C-Change discounts from 0.25% to 1.50%.
- Ability to overpay by up to 10% per annum over the first three years. Any amount above 10% will incur an early repayment charge.
- Borrow up to 90% of the property’s value on a repayment basis, or up to 75% interest-only (or part repayment and part interest-only).
Representative example
A mortgage of £95,300 payable over 25 years on a variable rate of 3.65% would require 300 monthly payments of £484.80. The total amount payable would be £146,451.07 made up of the loan amount plus interest (£50,311.07) and a mortgage application fee of £600 and a valuation fee of £240 (assuming a purchase price of £200,000).
The overall cost for comparison is 3.80% APRC representative.
APRC (Overall Percentage Rate of Change) shows you, as a percentage, the annual cost of a secured loan or mortgage. It brings together all charges (such as fees and other costs), calculated as if you kept your secured loan or mortgage for the full term without changing it.
- We’ll lend based on a full affordability assessment.
- An early repayment charge may be payable if you repay all or part of your mortgage within the first three years.
- A non-refundable mortgage application fee of £600 is payable in addition to a mortgage valuation fee.
- Mortgages are available on a repayment, interest-only or part (repayment) and part (interest-only) basis, subject to eligibility.
- Borrowers must be aged 18 or over. This mortgage is only available to UK residents.
- A maximum mortgage term of 30 years is available (subject to eligibility).
- If your project requires planning permission or listed building consent, this will need to be in place before we lend any mortgage funds.
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Benefit from our energy-efficiency discounts
95% of our residential mortgage customers are eligible for one of our C-Change discounts, which are designed to reward you for improving your home’s energy efficiency. So, not only can you enjoy reduced energy bills while shrinking your carbon footprint, you can get a lower rate on your mortgage, too.
1 Take out your mortgage with Ecology
2 Build your new home or transform an existing property
3 Confirm your revised energy rating and we'll calculate your discounted rate
Mortgage calculator
Work out how much you could borrow and compare monthly payments for our Renovation mortgage. You’ll also be able to see how much you could save if you’re eligible for our C-Change discount.
Our mortgage calculator is for illustrative purposes only and is designed to give an indication of the amount that we may be able to lend. The actual amount that we may be able to lend will depend on a full assessment of affordability, the property value and the size of your deposit.
Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage
Our customer projects
- Customer project
Jude & Anna’s Story: A New Life In The Country
Project type: Renovation
When Jude and Anna received a phone call from a close friend asking if they would be interested in buying a run-down workers’ cottage in the beautiful High Weald in West Sussex, the timing was less than ideal. Anna was pregnant with their daughter and they’d just had their attic converted in their home in Brighton. Despite this, they took the ...
ReadSee all projects - Customer project
Andy & Lorna’s Story
Project type: Renovation
Andy, an architectural designer, and Lorna, a charity development manager, wanted to improve the energy efficiency of their home, an old railway cottage in Hereford, as well as creating more space to accommodate their growing family. The original cottage was built by a railway carriage inspector in 1869, with solid brick walls and a slate roof ...
ReadSee all projects - Customer project
Irene & David’s Story: Converting To Passivhaus
Project type: Conversion
After living happily in a Victorian house on the outskirts of Ripon, North Yorkshire, for 20 years, Irene and David were ready for a change. They wanted a home that was less costly to heat and maintain, in a location that would reduce their reliance on car travel. This is exactly what they achieved. Their new house is an energy-efficient converted ...
ReadSee all projects
Our awards
Good With Money Good Egg award - 2019
NaCSBA Gold Partner - 2019
Best Buy Mortgages & Savings - 2020
C-Change FAQs
As a building society with a unique mission to build a greener society, we lend on projects and properties that support our aims through their reduced impact on our environment. Making your home energy efficient is a major way you can support tackling climate change – while saving on your energy bills.
We reward borrowers whose properties are energy efficient (therefore have lower carbon emissions) with our C-Change discounts off our Variable Rate which helps them save money on their mortgage. We call our discounts ‘C-Change discounts’ simply because we’re aiming to make a ‘sea-change’ of difference to our climate with each property or project we fund.
The level of our C-Change sustainable homes or C-Change retrofit discount that applies is based on the Energy Standard rating achieved on the self-build, renovation or conversion when the work is completed. Our C-Change energy improvements discount is based on the qualifying energy measures being installed. The discount is applied from the date we receive evidence that the work has been completed and if applicable the Energy Standard rating required has been achieved.
The C-Change retrofit scheme offers a discount of 0.25% from our Variable Rate (VR) for each rating improvement in your home’s Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This could be either its Energy Efficiency or Environmental Impact rating – whichever is the highest.
For example, if either EPC rating improves from E to C after the works to the property are completed, a discount of 0.50% will be available on the whole of the mortgage, for the duration of the loan. The discounts are deducted from our Variable Rate (currently 3.65% – the overall cost for comparison is 3.80% APRC).
To apply the discount, we need to receive an EPC before you undertake works to your home and another EPC once works are completed. We will compare the revised EPC with the original rating, and apply the discount based on the grade improvement achieved. Until we have received your revised EPC, we will charge interest at our Variable Rate. You can find out more by downloading Our C-Change discount leaflet.
| Energy Standard | Energy Efficiency or Environmental Impact Rating | VR (Variable Rate) | Discount % | Variable Mortgage Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) | EPC rating improvement | 3.65% | 0.25% for each grade improvement in the EPC rating | 3.40%-2.15% The overall cost for comparison is 3.80% APRC |
| Energy Standard | Ratings | VR (Variable Rate) | Discount % | Variable Mortgage Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passivhaus | EnerPHit or EnerPHit+i | 3.65% | 1.25% | 2.40%. The overall cost for comparison is 3.00% APRC |
| Passivhaus | EnerPHit (PHPP modelled) | 3.65% | 0.75% | 2.90%. The overall cost for comparison is 3.10% APRC |
Mortgage FAQs
Residential mortgage valuation fees
| Value of property not exceeding | Fee |
|---|---|
| £100,000 | £180 |
| £150,000 | £210 |
| £200,000 | £240 |
| £250,000 | £270 |
| £300,000 | £300 |
| Up to each £50,000 thereafter add | £30 |
Please note these valuation fees apply to residential and buy-to-let applications and include VAT.
In all other instances, the fee required will be determined on a case-by-case basis and depends on the nature of the property.
A more detailed inspection, such as a Homebuyers Report can often be provided by the same valuer at a fee to be negotiated. Please advise on this point when submitting your application.
Application Fee
A non-refundable mortgage application fee of £600 is payable in addition to a mortgage valuation fee.
Early repayment charge
An early repayment charge may be payable if you repay all or part of your mortgage within the first three years.
Our services, fees, tariffs and charges
The Society reserves the right to amend existing services and charges or to introduce new ones.
Any change to charges will only reflect the increased operational costs of providing the service. You will always be notified before any changes are implemented.
For further details and tariff information please see Our Residential Mortgages rates and charges leaflet.
Do I need to provide planning permission for my renovation?
Planning permission is required from your Local Authority if you are extending or altering the property and this requires formal planning permission.
What information do I need to progress my renovation mortgage application?
You’ll need to have a specific property renovation in mind and provide details of material and labour costs, the current Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) of the property and the projected EPC rating when you complete your renovation.
What deposit do I need for my renovation?
You need a 10% minimum deposit to purchase the property and a further 15% – 20% of total build costs to start your renovation.
Do I still need a deposit for my renovation if I already own the property?
No, you don’t always need a deposit; we can lend based on the value of your property to start the renovation, providing you already own the property and it’s mortgage-free. Also, we can help you repay any outstanding finance on the property if you need it.
Do borrowers who are planning to renovate need to show how they plan to improve the property’s energy efficiency?
Any project we support needs to show details of the proposed renovation with an indication of the Energy Standards you are renovating to, and how the renovation costs are expected to be funded with savings and mortgage finance. We don’t just lend on the property purchase.
How long do I have to complete the renovation?
We allow a maximum of 2 years for you to complete the renovation, although we encourage you to complete earlier to benefit from our C-Change retrofit discount which is applied to our Variable Rate from the date we receive evidence that both the work has been completed and the Energy Standard rating required has been achieved.
Do you offer stage payments for a renovation?
Yes, we release funds as and when the renovation progresses and release up to a percentage of the increased value of the property.
Can I have interest-only mortgage during the renovation phase?
We offer an interest-only mortgage only when you have a qualifying repayment vehicle to support this for example an established ISA, endowment policies or Pension Plan.
Does the renovation property have to be my main residence?
Yes, although we do offer a buy-to-let mortgage. Please bear in mind that we don’t offer mortgages for second homes, holiday homes or homes classed as mobile planning.