Yorkshire Building Society has announced the launch of a new Home Energy Efficiency mortgage product to assist its existing customers in going green.

The product will help homeowners who want implement environmentally-friendly measures in their homes, with a 5.65 per cent rate on a Home Energy Efficiency Additional Loan for five years.

This represents a discount of 1.5 per cent on the society’s standard variable rate of 7.15 per cent, and applied to a minimum loan of £1,000 and a maximum of £15,000.

Rob Prior from Yorkshire Building Society said that working with the Energy Saving Trust had helped it to identify the best way to help its customers make their homes energy-efficient.

Research undertaken by the society’s member panel found that 55 per cent of members felt that lenders had a duty to help finance environmentally-friendly home improvements, with 49 per cent preferring reduced cost loans as a means to this end.