I should like to register my support for 黑洞社区鈥檚 99% Campaign. For many years, I鈥檝e been banging on about a whole-cost lending policy as a means of improving energy efficiency in older housing stock, but nobody ever listens.

Under this 鈥渁ll carrot and no stick鈥� approach, lending is based on homebuyers鈥� ability to repay a mortgage and meet the associated essential costs of running a home 鈥� the whole cost of home ownership. Such a policy acknowledges that savings in the running costs of energy-efficient homes can be used to redeem larger mortgages.

As this gives purchasers of energy-efficient homes more buying power, demand for such properties should increase, thus levering in a difference in value between efficient and non-efficient homes, which in turn stimulates demand for energy conservation and energy certification as owners of non-energy efficient homes strive to make their homes more saleable, valuable and cheaper to run.

The large-scale adoption in the UK of a whole-life lending policy, enforced by legislation if necessary, should be investigated and a pilot study undertaken.

Graham Stow, director, Complete , Bristol

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