Residents could lend Bracknell Forest Council from £5 in December, through a £300,000 climate bond paying for solar panels on Time Square and The Alders.
Bracknell Forest residents could soon lend money to their council, from as little as £5, to pay for solar panels on two of its buildings.
On Tuesday 3 November the council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve a £300,000 Local Climate Bond, to launch in December. The Cabinet report says it would be sold through Abundance Investment, which runs these bonds for councils.
The interest rate and how long the money is tied up have not been set. The report says the final terms will be fixed “shortly before launch”, within a maximum loan term of 20 years.
What the money pays for
The bond would fund rooftop solar panels at two council sites:
| Site | What is planned | Estimated cost |
|---|---|---|
| Time Square | Solar panels and a battery | £250,000 |
| The Alders | Solar panels | £45,000 |
| Total | £295,000 |
The extra £5,000 is a contingency, because the work has not yet been put out to tender. If it is not needed, the report says it could go on similar schemes.
The council says the panels would save £32,200 a year on energy bills, against loan repayments of about £30,200 a year. That leaves a small saving while the bond is repaid and a bigger one afterwards. It puts the carbon saving at 24.9 tonnes of CO2 a year.
At Time Square, the council’s offices, the battery would store daytime surplus power for use at peak tariff times. The report says a wider plan to make The Alders fully electric, for heating and hot water too, was looked at and dropped, because it would not pay back.
Who can invest
The offer would be open to anyone in the UK. The council says its publicity will aim at Bracknell Forest residents, businesses, staff and community groups. The minimum would be £5.
The report is frank about what goes wrong with these schemes. The listed risks include:
- the target sum is not raised
- market conditions change before launch
- project costs rise, or delivery is delayed
- the energy savings are not achieved
The council says it remains responsible for repaying investors “irrespective of the performance of the funded schemes”. It also says its communications will make clear that investing is a matter for each investor.
How it got here
Cabinet authorised work on a bond with Abundance on 15 July 2025. In September 2025 full council backed a motion asking the executive to explore one. The report says Abundance is the only provider of these bonds now operating in the UK, so the contract would be awarded without competing quotes. Abundance’s income is estimated at around £44,000 over 20 years.
What it means for you
- You cannot invest yet. If Cabinet approves on 3 November, the bond is due to open in December through Abundance’s platform. We will publish the rate and term when they are set.
- Your money would be a loan to the council, not a donation. Read the terms and the risks before you put money in.
- The panels are meant to pay for themselves. The council expects the energy savings to cover the repayments, but it must repay investors either way.
- You can watch the decision. Cabinet meets at 6:30pm on Tuesday 3 November; the agenda and papers are online.
The same Cabinet meeting will consider the council becoming a social landlord again.
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