Green Home Loans
Updated 18 September 2025
Green loans for your home and lifestyle!
Did you know if you’ve got a mortgage with one of the major banks in New Zealand chances are you can access a low or no interest loan to make sustainable improvements to your home?
According to the Ministry for the Environment, well-designed funding and finance initiatives are “key enablers of the transition to a low-emissions economy.” Green home loans have become increasingly popular in New Zealand as homeowners look for ways to reduce their environmental footprint and lower their energy bills. In response, many banks in New Zealand have started offering low or no-interest loans to encourage the uptake of sustainable home improvements.
Green home loans provide an excellent opportunity for homeowners to reduce their energy bills and environmental footprint. With low or no interest rates sustainable improvements are now more affordable than ever.
With a range of options available from different banks, it's important to do your research to find the loan that best suits your needs. By making these improvements, homeowners can reduce their energy bills, increase the value of their home, and contribute to a more sustainable future.
Green home loans via banks are typically only available if you have a pre-existing mortgage. This is because the loan is often structured alongside your existing mortgage: either as an additional drawdown or top-up.
In this blog post, we are only covering green home loans, but it’s worth noting that you can also find alternative financing methods such as personal loans, credit cards, and of course government-run programmes such as the Warmer Kiwi Homes scheme (check out our subsidies page).
The main types of green energy products/systems that you can get financing for include, but are not limited to:
Solar generation (e.g. solar panels)
Hydro, Wind, and Geothermal generation (for example smaller scale renewable energy projects)
Energy-efficient Heating and Insulation
Cleaner transportation (e.g. electric vehicles or charging systems)
Westpac
Westpac, one of New Zealand's largest banks, offers a Greater Choices home loan with no interest on loans up to $50,000 provided they can be paid off within five years. The Greater Choices loans are available to current and new Westpac home loan customers.
Applicable sustainable improvements:
Heat pumps, including ducted and hot water heat pump systems
Insulation
Double glazing
Ventilation
Solar power systems and batteries
Rain water tanks
Replacement of household gas appliances
Electric car
Electric vehicle charger
ANZ Bank
ANZ Bank offers a Good Energy home loan, which provides a 1% interest rate for up to $80,000 over three years. It is not available for business purposes or new-builds.
Applicable sustainable improvements:
Heat pumps, including ducted and hot water heat pump systems
Insulation
Double, triple glazing
Ventilation
Solar power systems and batteries
Rain water tanks
Electric bikes
Electric car
Electric vehicle charger
BNZ
BNZ Bank offers Green Home top up loans for sustainability improvements. The top-up allows homeowners to borrow up $80,000 at 1% interest rate for three years for the same list of sustainability improvements as ANZ (above).
Kiwibank
Kiwibank has Sustainable Energy loans, offered at the variable home loan rate, with Kiwibank offering $2000 towards loans of over $5000. There are some additional conditions to the Kiwibank loans, so best to check their website.
ASB
ASB Bank offers a Better Homes top up loan, which provides a 1% interest rate for loans of up to $80,000 over three years. Minimum 20% equity required.
Applicable sustainable improvements:
Heat pumps, including ducted and hot water heat pump systems
Insulation
Double, triple glazing
Ventilation
Solar power systems and batteries
Rain water tanks, wetbacks
Electric car
Electric vehicle charger
As with any offers from banks, things can change. Sustainability Trust recommends getting in touch with your home loan lender to check what they’re offering and what the loans can be used for.
Sustainability Trust staff member, Kim, recently accessed a Good Energy loan from ANZ to purchase an electric vehicle. Kim and her partner applied to ANZ to access the loan and within a week, they were driving their new EV.
“Getting our loan was super easy. We applied online and the next day we had a call from a loan manager. A video call was organised - so he could see we were legit and to ask us a few follow up questions. The following day we were approved, and a few days after that the money was in our account, easily our best bank experience yet.” - Kim Tabrum
Sustainability Trust provides several of the services that green home loans finance, including heat pumps, insulation, ventilation options and EV chargers. So, once you’ve secured your green loan, be sure to come to us to get a quote to make your home cosy and warm and to reduce your electricity bills!
Georgie Ferrari - Chief Executive, Sustainability Trust