When Dave and Jenny Sykes moved their mortgage to Newbury Building Society, they never dreamed they’d end up with 21 solar panels because of it.
Dave, who describes himself as ‘very techy,’ was curious after receiving an email from the Society offering him a free home energy assessment worth over £1,000. He and his wife, Jenny, had always been environmentally conscious and had recently been considering how they could improve the energy efficiency of their home, so they decided to apply.
Many people we know don’t think retrofitting is worthwhile because of the upfront cost, but we feel differently. We want to do out bit to reduce our carbon footprint, and we genuinely believe individual actions add up. Having the chance to do this with the support of Newbury and Severn Wye made the decision easy.
The offer stemmed from a collaboration between the Society and Severn Wye Energy Agency, a sustainability charity who support homeowners and landlords to make their properties warmer and more efficient, as well as offering advice and community-based support for households experiencing fuel poverty.
Each assessment included an up-to-date Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) and a detailed report outlining retrofit improvements, costings, and analysis of how much money – and carbon – homeowners could potentially save.
Keen to learn how they might better understand the challenges facing their customers when considering retrofitting, Newbury expanded the project. When they reached out to Dave and Jenny, offering them a grant to make some improvements highlighted by Severn Wye, their decision was a ‘no-brainer.’
Energy efficiency has become a much more significant factor both for lenders and homeowners in recent years, but many people still aren’t sure how best to go about retrofitting their properties. There’s also a real lack of confidence that any changes they make are going to be worthwhile. We wanted to help a customer through the process of making some significant retrofit improvements to their property, following them on their journey and understanding how we might be able to help others in the future.
With the continued support of Severn Wye, they decided to use the grant for a solar photovoltaic (PV) array and battery, which they will use to store surplus electricity and eventually, export it back to the grid.
They used the remaining funds, as well as some of their own savings, to make some additional improvements suggested by Severn Wye in their asessment, such as topping up the insulation in their loft and capping off an unused gas fire.
For the couple, the process has been a positive one, though finding an installer and understanding the quotes they received were the trickiest parts. This is where Severn Wye's expertise came in particularly handy!
“Working with Neil [Towler, Severn Wye Energy Specialist] has been invaluable, particularly as there has been a lot of new technology and jargon to get to grips with. When we started, we didn’t know what was good and not good,” explained Jenny.
After several weeks speaking to installers, reviewing quotes, and creating a detailed spreadsheet to understand their options, the installation took place February. Despite poor weather, the work took approximately a week and was much less intrusive than the Sykes' had initially imagined. The scaffolding also provided Dave with the perfect opportunity to clean the gutters!
What do they believe would make retrofitting more accessible for others? Doing lots of research, having clear criteria and expectations for any improvements you want to make your home, as well as asking lots and lots of questions.
“You know what you’re looking for if you need a new fridge, because you’ve had one before. But with retrofitting, people just don’t have prior experience to fall back on,” explained Dave.
Their experiences are not unusual. Whilst many UK homeowners would like to make environmentally friendly changes to their homes, a 2025 report by Citizens Advice highlights common barriers. These include identifying trustworthy and reliable contractors, upfront costs, and disruption to home life.
In an ideal world, we’d all have solar panels, but realistically everyone has to think about things like mortgage payments and cost of living. Our feeling from speaking to our neighbours is people are curious, but feel nervous about the upfront cost, and how long it will take to pay for itself.
The couple may yet find their newly-acquired solar expertise in demand in their neighbourhood, where curious neighbours have stopped by to ask about how the panels are working, who installed them, what they think of them so far, and the most frequent question – if they’ve saved them money on their bills.
Since February, the panels have generated over 750 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity – around triple the average monthly electricity use for UK households. The EPC rating of their home has also improved from C to A - the highest rating possible, and far above the current UK average of D.
Whilst Dave and Jenny wait for summer to really understand just how much energy their panels can generate, their journey so far has demonstrated how the power of advice, support, and collaboration between customers, mortgage lenders, and sustainability experts can give homeowners the confidence to retrofit.
By sharing a customer’s experience from survey through to final installation, and the difference impartial expertise and support makes, we hope to give more people the confidence to consider making retrofit improvements to their home.
Find out more about our Green Ambition strategy and how we're working towards been a greener building society here.
If you're an existing Newbury borrower and you've been inspired to explore retrofit improvements of your own, why not check out our range of GoGreen mortgage products?
