Ecology Building Society has launched a new Community Living mortgage, designed for people looking to purchase or remortgage properties that are part of a co-housing scheme.
Co-housing developments are made up of self-contained residential homes for individuals, couples or families. This lifestyle can have a positive environmental impact through shared resources, with developments usually containing common indoor areas to cook, meet up or eat together, as well as shared outside space, such as gardens and plots to grow fruit and veg.
Co-housing in energy-efficient constructions can also be environmentally friendly and cost effective too, making running costs lower on key bills.
Ecology’s Community Living mortgage has a discounted variable rate of 5.34% and is available up to 90% LTV, with no application fee and unlimited overpayment options.
The Community Living mortgage follows the recent launch of Ecology’s 95% LTV Affordable Local Homes product, which helps people get onto the property ladder through the discounted market sales scheme.
Daniel Capstick, Ecology’s senior mortgages product and proposition manager, said: “Co-housing can have many positive benefits for people and our planet and help communities to thrive, yet most lenders don’t provide mortgages to enable this type of living.
“Ecology’s new Community Lending mortgage product bridges this gap and complements the commercial lending we provide to help with the creation of such developments.
“The co-housing schemes we’ve supported already are leading the way in sustainable living with some having their own renewable power generation, car and bike pools and food growing, so providing this type of mortgage for residents was a natural next step.
“We’ve always been a purpose-driven lender and our recent mortgage range refresh is helping us to plug gaps in the market and support people in purchasing their first property or be part of a way of living that’s right for them.”
