The Green Mortgage Advice Initiative Story

The GMAI is a cross-industry initiative led by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), the UK trade association for mortgage intermediary firms.

It was set up to:

• raise awareness of the implications of climate change and the green agenda for the intermediary sector,
• help intermediaries to understand and address sustainability-related needs with consumers, and
• ensure that advisers’ interests are represented among lenders, trade bodies and government and regulatory policymakers.

But it’s also much broader than that. The Climate Change Committee estimates that it will cost £250 billion to decarbonise the UK’s housing stock in line with the government’s 2050 net zero targets. Regulated financial firms are coming under increasing pressure to factor Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations into their products, services and organisational strategy.

Before long, lenders may be required to account for climate risks such as flooding and extreme heat in their loan books and valuations. And if energy efficiency and climate resilience factors start to impact on buyer decision-making and house prices, we could see a surge in demand for green home finance products and advice. We as an industry need to be ready to respond and, as part of that response, we have created our GMAI Roadmap for 2024/25 for those who care about climate change, who may already be in one of our working groups or would like to join us.