Ashman Bank, an ambitious new entrant in the banking industry, led by a team of passionate entrepreneurs and experienced bankers, has been awarded a substantial grant of £200,000.
This financial injection has been made possible through The Green Home Finance Accelerator, supporting the UK Government’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), and is aimed at helping homeowners decarbonise their properties, speeding up the journey to net zero.
The investment comes from the Government’s broader £20m scheme, with Ashman Bank collaborating with ThermaFY Eco Solutions, a company offering specialist software to identify heat loss, poor insulation, and equipment failures in heating systems. The grant will enable the development of an innovative product targeted towards the buy-to-let (BTL) market, coined Impact Buy to Let (IBTL).
Ashman Bank aims to utilise the grant for developing the IBTL, a novel product offering for the buy-to-let mortgage market. This product, created in-house, builds upon Ashman’s thorough comprehension of the real estate market and solidifies their commitment towards the future of UK’s real estate decarbonisation. The IBTL product aims to empower landlords with specific data for creating a net zero roadmap and providing tenants with essential energy consumption information, thus enriching the overall property market experience.
The grant’s utilisation by Ashman responds to the urgent necessity for landlords to enhance the energy efficiency of their properties. This need is driven by the changing building standards moving from EPC-E to EPC-B by 2030. Furthermore, Ashman’s unique product will be piloted in the second half of this year and will determine retrofitting works required to enhance a property’s energy efficiency both now and in the future.
Ashman Bank’s chief commercial officer, Caroline Luxmore, expressed, “This grant will allow us to develop a digital product that will lead to property owners having the data and insight they need to manage retrofitting works and understand the impact on energy they will have.”
Lord Callanan, minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, also commented, “We are supporting these organisations to develop fresh and innovative ways of helping more people get better access to energy efficiency measures, such as loft insulation, double glazing and heat pumps.”
The product, currently in development, is designed for the non-regulated BTL market and aligns with Ashman Bank’s risk appetite. It will potentially fund retrofitting works subject to specific criteria and will sit alongside Ashman’s full suite of products that are yet to be announced.
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