Green home finance products: homeowner awareness and attitudes

This report presents findings from quantitative research that explored: which specific green finance products appeal most to homeowners how awareness and willingness to adopt these products vary across the population how features of products (for example, interest rates, repayment terms, delivery methods) influence uptake from which sources homeowners would like to receive information around green finance and home improvements, as well as who they trust to provide that information The National Centre for Social Research completed this research, which involved: a survey of homeowners in Great Britain a discrete choice experiment to evaluate the importance of various features of personal green loans a segmentation analysis based on awareness of and barriers to taking up green finance Homeowners’ awareness of and attitudes towards green home finance products Ref: RAF067/2324 PDF , 380 KB , 43 pages Homeowners’ awareness of and attitudes towards green home finance products: technical annex Ref: RAF067/2324 PDF , 631 KB , 116 pages National Centre for Social Research (2025) RAF067/2324 Homeowners’ awareness of and attitudes towards green home finance products Research report 2 Views expressed in this report are from the relevant research agencies, based on data collected from research participants and other evidence, and not necessarily those of the UK government. © Crown copyright 2025 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. 3 Contents 1 Executive summary ________________________________________________________ 4 1.1 Key Findings __________________________________________________________ 4 2 Introduction _______________________________________________________________ 7 2.1 Policy context __________________________________________________________ 7 2.2 Research aims _________________________________________________________ 7 3 Methodology ______________________________________________________________ 8 3.1 Data collection _________________________________________________________ 8 3.2 Analyses _____________________________________________________________ 10 4 Findings ________________________________________________________________ 12 4.1 Awareness and barriers _________________________________________________ 12 4.2 Willingness to use green finance __________________________________________ 25 4.3 Factors influencing the uptake of green finance ______________________________ 31 4.4 Advice, access, and trust ________________________________________________ 35 5 Conclusions _____________________________________________________________ 41 Green home finance products: Research report 4 1 Executive summary The UK government has committed to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with decarbonising homes a key element of that ambition. Green finance products—such as personal green loans and green mortgages—have the potential to help homeowners overcome the upfront costs of green home improvements. However, public awareness of these products is limited, and willingness to use them varies across the population. The aim of this research was to explore the public’s attitudes towards green finance to help fill this gap, including both existing and hypothetical products. This report first explores homeowners’ awareness of green home improvements and green finance products, as well as the barriers that hinder uptake of these products. It then examines the features of green finance products that shape consumer decision-making and the reasons why homeowners are likely to use (or not use) different green finance products. Finally, it describes the sources homeowners trust for advice on and access to green finance—including whether they would prefer to receive it from private sector companies (e.g. banks, installers of green home improvements) or other sources (e.g. government). This report presents findings from a large, representative survey of 1,541 homeowners in Great Britain. 1.1 Key Findings Awareness and barriers Awareness of green home improvements was high, especially for solar panels (68% of homeowners were very aware of this), insulation (68%), and draught-proofing (58%), but awareness of green finance options and government support schemes was substantially lower. For example, fewer than 1 in 5 (17%) were aware of borrowing additional green money from their mortgage lender to purchase green home improvements, and the most commonly known financial support option, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, was known to fewer than half (47%) of homeowners. The main barrier to installation of green home 

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