Industry Financial Services Number of employees 25 Number of locations 1 | Headquarters Silsden, United Kingdom Founded 1981 | |
Type Building Society (Mutual) Key people Paul Ellis, Chief Executive Products Savings, Mortgages, Investments Net income £2.5 million GBP (December 2014), 13.64% on 2013 Total assets £138 million GBP (December 2014), 10.61% on 2013 Profiles | ||
Ecology building society
Ecology Building Society is a building society in the United Kingdom. Established in 1981, the Ecology is based in West Yorkshire, and has over 10,000 open accounts. It is a member of the Building Societies Association.
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The initial vision was to set up a building society that specialised in properties that conveyed an ecological benefit in terms of construction, use of land or lifestyle. The idea was sparked at a Green Party Conference, following the experience of a Yorkshire solicitor, David Pedley. He had great difficulty in finding anyone willing to give him a mortgage on a property needing extensive renovation.
The primary purpose of the Society is to achieve the greatest degree of environmental sustainability by the application of its financial strength as can be achieved concomitant with the legal framework that the Society is subject to. This is achieved by lending activity primarily to foster the creation and maintenance of a sustainable housing stock, where possible in the context of sustainable communities, but also to support green enterprise, with this lending programme fed by funding secured with the least degree of environmental degradation possible, and with the greatest degree of stakeholder endorsement obtainable.
This primary purpose is anchored in the Memorandum of the Society which contains a requirement "to promote…ecological policies designed to promote or enhance the environment in accordance with the principles of sustainable development". Sustainable development is defined as "Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems".
The Ecology offers a range of mortgage products and lends throughout the UK. It specialises in renovation and new build mortgages on properties and projects that respect the environment. Where possible, mortgage pricing is aligned with the project's positive environmental impacts, in particular energy and carbon reduction, through its series of C-Change mortgage discounts. The society is particularly interested to see derelict and dilapidated property brought back into use. The Society also actively supports the widespread application of Passivhaus building principles in the UK.
The society also offers a range of savings accounts including instant access accounts, a notice account and an Individual Savings Account (ISA), which allow individuals to fund the Society's ecological lending programme. Mortgage and Savings accounts can be managed online via the Ecology's website or by post.