Ecology Building Society has launched a new range of mortgages designed for homes built using modern methods of construction (MMC), ideal for self and custom builders.
Its new Off-site Build products have four initial modular manufacturers signed, including Agile Homes (garden room, below), HebHomes (night image below), nHouse Commercial and R. House (main picture), with more to follow.
A long-standing NaCSBA member, Ecology Building Society specialises in mortgages that support energy efficient homes and better building, with over 40 year’s of experience in the market.
What is MMC?
Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) refers to systems that are manufactured offsite in a factory, and they can involve a range of approaches, such is insulated concrete formwork or timber frame. In this case the new products are for panel-based modular manufacturers offering whole home systems.
These systems use panellised units that are made off-site in the factory before being assembled on-site. It is a system that can easily create an energy-efficient home, with significantly quicker construction times, improved and more consistent build quality and a lower carbon footprint achieved by reducing transport emissions, using more sustainable building materials and reducing construction waste.
Self and custom builders can choose an arrears payment product, or, for the first time, an advanced payment mortgage secured against the panels while they are being manufactured in the factory. Ecology believes this will make it easier for more people to access mortgage finance for such MMC builds.
House building is going to become more sustainable as government now recognises the urgent need to reduce the carbon impact of house building. It wants new homes to reduce their carbon emissions by 75% by 2025.
Gareth Griffiths, Ecology’s Chief Executive said: “Decarbonising our homes is key to meeting our net-zero ambitions. Now, more than ever, it’s important that lenders play an active role in incentivising green building and helping to reduce energy bills.
“We hope that our new mortgages will help scale-up modern methods of construction to deliver more homes built to higher energy-efficiency standards.
“The introduction of the ‘advanced payment’ mortgage option is an exciting first for Ecology, making energy efficient off-site build homes more accessible for those borrowers who may require up-front funding.
“Our innovative approach, to secure our lending, in advance, on the modular panels while they are in the factory, has the potential to be a game-changer, helping to realise the environmental benefits of off-site construction, which will be critical in the fight against climate change.”
