Ecology Building Society has created a Community Living mortgage for people looking to buy or remortgage properties that are part of a co-housing scheme.
Co-housing developments are made up of self-contained residential homes and are believed to have a positive environmental impact because of the shared resources. This usually includes common cooking areas and living spaces, as well as shared gardens and plots to grow fruit and vegetables.
Ecology’s Community Living mortgage has a discounted variable rate of 5.34% and is available up to 90% loan to value (LTV), with no application fee and unlimited overpayment options.
Daniel Capstick, senior mortgage product and proposition manager at Ecology Building Society, 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.”
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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.
Capstick added: “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.”