Hinckley & Rugby becomes the first building society to receive Carbon Literacy training

Hinckley & Rugby Building Society is proud to say that it is the first UK building society that has completed Carbon Literacy training with the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), which has been approved by the Carbon Literacy Project. 

Through the training, 10 staff members learnt more about the climate change issues which affect the wider society and gained a better understanding of why it’s important for businesses and consumers to take action now. The course covered the ways in which Hinckley & Rugby can become a more environmentally friendly organisation and included a specific focus on the improvements its customers can make by retrofitting their homes.  

Staff members are now more confident than ever to have informed conversations with borrowers about making their homes greener, as well as passing on what they have learnt to colleagues.  

Our homes account for 30% of the UK’s total energy use, research by the Environment Agency shows, and it’s likely that the government will introduce legislation that will require rental properties to have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C by April 2025. There is an expectation that this legislation will apply to all properties by the end of the decade, which is why the building society wanted to act fast. 

The Society is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and launched its first suite of green mortgage products in June 2021, aimed at existing borrowers wanting to improve their homes’ energy efficiency. Customers can now access additional borrowing to retrofit their homes to make them greener, improving their resale value and, importantly, reducing the negative impact on the environment. Hinckley & Rugby has also partnered with Eforests to plant a tree for each successful green mortgage application. 

Dean Waddingham, Chief Customer Officer at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, says:  

“I am delighted that we’re the first UK building society to have completed the Carbon Literacy training – it’s a great opportunity for staff members to develop their knowledge so they can pass this on to our customers and colleagues. We have a responsibility as a lender to help our members improve the energy-efficiency of their homes to tackle the climate change crisis, which is exactly why we launched our range of green mortgage products earlier this year.” 

To learn more about the Society’s green mortgage products, which include residential and buy to let deals, visit its website.