Barclays has launched what it claims is Britain’s first “green mortgage”, with a deal offering preferential rates for borrowers buying a new property which has an A or B energy rating from builders including Barratt and Redrow, with plans to parner with more builders by the end of the year.

Barclays Mortgages will offer the preferential interest rates on two and five-year fixed-rate mortgages for people with a deposit as low as 10% and for Help to Buy mortgages for people with a deposit as low as 25%.

It said that with 0.1 percentage point discounts off the equivalent traditional Barclays Mortgage products, those buying a new-build property could potentially achieve a saving of £750 on a typical mortgage of £150,000 over a five-year fixed-rate term – on top of the savings people will make from having cheaper energy bills.

Resources: Daily Mail