The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has announced a new partnership with the Green Finance Institute (GFI) to unlock funding for energy-efficiency improvements for thousands of homes in the city region.
According to the GFI, many property owners struggle to undertake energy-efficiency upgrades due to the lack of finance available to fund improvements.
The partnership will aim to overcome the finance barriers homeowners face by allowing them access to new, attractive sources of private and blended finance to fund energy-efficiency upgrades to their properties. It aims to invest “millions of pounds” to help cut energy bills for up to 60,000 homes.
Cllr Martyn Cox, GMCA’s lead for green city region and waste, said: “It’s crucial that as we become greener, we become fairer, so people are not left behind. That means making sure people are less reliant on carbon-intensive energy at home, whilst reducing their energy bills.”
The partnership will provide access to new funds for energy-efficiency upgrades through local climate bonds, green mortgages, demand aggregation financing, green rental agreements and a new property-linked finance scheme.
Through this partnership, the GFI will work with financial institutions, retrofit specialists and local organisations to pilot a series of funding solutions designed to provide a blueprint for other councils across the UK to follow.
Emma Harvey, GFI’s built environment programme director, said: “Local authorities have a deep understanding of their residents’ needs and increasingly recognise the opportunities to work with the private finance sector to deliver access to finance for their citizens.”
The partnership builds on the GFI’s work with the Greater London Authority and is part of the GMCA’s Retrofit GM strategy, which tackles the building retrofit challenge through innovative finance solutions.
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