ABN Amro is to offer customers a sustainability discount on mortgage interest rates for energy efficient homes.
The bank will use the European Union's Energy Label categotrisation to assess sustainabilty scores to properties. For homes officially registered in the upper A category, the bank will provide a 0.15% discount on interest repayments. Homes registered as B properties will achieve a 0.1 percent discount.
"We aim to attain an average energy label A for all residential and commercial properties we finance by 2030," states the bank. "We want to encourage our clients to make their homes more sustainable, so we’re offering this sustainability discount as an incentive."
Existing and new mortgage clients receive the rate cut if they make their homes more sustainable after the start of a fixed-interest period and if they register their energy label - provided it is either A or B - within 24 months.
ABN Amro automatically retrieves the energy labels proactively from the Rijksdienst Voor Ondernemend Nederland (Netherlands Enterprise Agency). If the conditions are met, the bank applies the discount without the client needing to apply for it.