At a time when energy costs are rising, Skipton Building Society is prepared to invest £11m in greening UK homes by giving all of its mortgage customers a free EPC Plus report.Skipton’s EPC Plus launch comes as the latest household data reveals homeowners will be paying on average £1,570 more this year on energy bills alone. However, it is estimated that improving a property’s energy efficiency could shave an average £450 off annual household bills.

In partnering with EPC provider Vibrant, which is part of the Skipton Group, the building society’s mortgage customers and all of its employees can register to have a free EPC Plus inspection carried out on their home.

The insection is the first of its kind and goes one step further than a traditional EPC report. It provides each homeowner with the current energy efficiency rating of their home, along with what the property’s potential EPC rating could be but it also includes a bespoke guide on how the homeowner can achieve a higher rating and how much this could reduce their energy bills by. It also gives details of any governmentt funding available.

Skipton Group is also committing to helping landlords improve the energy rating and energy efficiency of their rental properties by enabling buy-to-let mortgage customers to request up to 10 EPC Plus reports for the properties they own.

The landlord is only required to have one mortgage with Skipton Building Society to enable them to benefit from this.

Kris Brewster, Interim Chief Commercial Officer at Skipton Group, said: “Home energy efficiency is a huge societal challenge where everyone needs to play their part. It is only right that the business community steps up to the mark, and as a customer-owned organisation we’re reinvesting some of our profits to help our members save money and improve the energy efficiency of their homes.”

Skipton Building Society offers free EPC reports to its mortgage customers and staff