Owning your own home

I also had a long chat with a senior HSBC Financial Advisor about investments and told him I wasn't really happy about my money being invested in companies that manufacture arms for example. Good on him for being honest but he said there was no way of managing this through their investment schemes.

Might be worth checking out the Co-op:
http://www.goodwithmoney.co.uk/ethical-insurance-and-investments/