Barclays pilots Greener Home Reward to support energy efficiency
Barclays is trialling a ‘test-and-learn’ cash reward initiative to see if it results in a greater uptake of greener home improvements.
The bank’s research found that 57% of homeowners believe their mortgage provider should help them to make energy efficiency-related home improvements and 83% said that the removal of price barriers in the form of a cash reward would be effective in encouraging them to make changes.
In response, Barclays has announced the Greener Home Reward scheme to encourage homeowners to make their intentions a reality.
The Greener Home Reward provides up to £2,000 to Barclays UK residential mortgage customers that register for the cash reward online and then make and pay for a selected home energy efficiency-related improvement. No additional lending is required to benefit from the scheme and all new and existing Barclays UK residential mortgage customers are eligible.
Customers can choose to install any one of several home improvements, including an air source heat pump (ASHP), double or triple-glazed windows, solar panels, or home insulation. The chosen home improvement must be completed by a TrustMark-registered business or tradesperson.
The data and insights collected throughout the pilot will inform Barclays’ product development as it looks to roll-out wider home improvement support measures in the future.
A full breakdown of the support available
| Home improvement type | Measures covered | Average Annual Carbon Savings2 | Average cost2 | Barclays Cash Reward |
| Low Carbon Heating | · Air & Ground Source Heat Pumps | 1,630 kg CO2e | £9,000 – £19,000 | £2,000 |
| · Biomass boilers | 2,000 kg CO2e | £11,000 – £17,000 | ||
| · Solar Hot Water Heating | 820 kg CO2e | £3,000 – £6000 | £1,000 | |
| Solar Energy | · Solar Electricity Panels
· Solar Battery Storage |
820 kg CO2e | £3,000 – £6000 | |
| Insulation | · Solid wall insulation | 4,200 kg CO2e | £8,500 – £12,000 | |
| Insulation and Doors | · Flat Roof / Loft / Pitch roof insulation | 2,750 kg CO2e | £530 | £500 |
| · Cavity wall insulation | 3,100 kg CO2e | £1,100 | ||
| · Floor insulation | 180 kg CO2e | £1,200 – £2,500 | ||
| Windows | · A-Rated Double / Triple / secondary glazing | 335 kg CO2e | £7,500 |
The research sheds light on current attitudes towards sustainability and energy efficiency, as well as the barriers preventing homeowners from making changes –76% consider themselves to be environmentally conscious and are taking steps to become more sustainable. Yet when asked to explain the measures they are taking, the vast majority fall under the banner of lifestyle choices, with 73% saying they avoid or minimise food waste and 62% are seeking to reduce their use of central heating.
In contrast, when analysing homeowners’ attitudes towards larger-scale changes, there is significantly more inertia. While 69% have already made some level of energy-efficient improvements, these mostly relate to changes associated with lower upfront costs, such as installing energy-efficient lighting.
When asked about the changes homeowners hope to make in the future, installing solar electricity panels (57%) and solar hot water heating (42%) were the top priorities.
More than seven in 10 (73%) state that the cost of the work is the primary issue holding them back, while 56% say they lack sufficient cashflow to pay the upfront costs
Dr Pete Brooks, Barclays Behavioural Economist, said:
When weighing up the costs and benefits of retrofitting, a behavioural bias called ‘hyperbolic discounting’ often comes into play, which in essence means that we tend to prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger payoffs further down the line. With the expected payback period for some home improvements clocking in at over a decade, these larger options may be overlooked. Even if the long-term benefits might be greater, the end result is often inaction.
To overcome this, our latest initiative helps provide a more immediate reward to our residential mortgage customers to help with the cost of making energy efficiency-related home improvements. Couple this with providing helpful information to consumers to help them make informed choices and we hope to encourage more people to overcome their human biases.
More information about the Greener Home Reward: barclays.co.uk/sustainability
