Leeds Building Society has revamped its approach to climate data, with the organisation saying it has “dramatically improved” the accuracy of its reported financed emissions within its residential lending portfolio.

The move is part of a new partnership with Experian, which is supplying datasets used to access aggregated and anonymised property level energy data and emission factors for properties in its portfolio.

The partnership says that this has removed the building society’s reliance on estimated Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) data, which previously overestimated its residential mortgage emissions by over a third.

Lenders have traditionally relied on EPCs to estimate property emissions based on average energy consumption and historical emission factors.

Following the rollout of Experian's datasets, the organisation has increased its existing emission targets inline with requirements of the Science-based Targets initiative (SBTi), ensuring its future reduction ambitions are based on the more accurate data.

The data aims to support higher quality reporting and track tangible progress to comply with upcoming mandatory reporting rules in the journey to Net Zero.

“Improvements in the accuracy of our climate data is key to underpinning our climate transition plan to ensure we are accurately reporting and informing our reduction plans," said Graeme McRitchie, head of prudential and enterprise risk, Leeds Building Society. “We are delighted with the impact Experian’s Meter Insights has already had on our reporting, and shows how accurate data can have a real, tangible impact on businesses.”

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