new buildings
New subsidy for energy-saving houses from mid-April
New single-family homes on the outskirts of Hanover. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
There has been a lot of controversy about the end of KfW funding for energy-efficient construction and renovation. Now a smaller program is to be launched – but under different conditions.
From mid-April, house builders should again receive state subsidies for energy-saving new buildings.
“From April 20th we will resume funding for new buildings according to the EH40 standard, with changed funding rates and slightly different conditions,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) of the “Rheinische Post”. The rating means buildings use 40 percent of the energy that standard homes require. Houses with higher energy consumption are currently standard in Germany.
One billion euros are available for the new program, said Habeck. You have to be prepared for the fact that this sum will be exhausted very quickly.
At the beginning of the year, due to a flood of applications and a lack of funds, Habeck prematurely stopped grants for energy-efficient construction and renovation from the KfW development bank shortly before the end of the application period. After fierce protests, the federal government decided that applications received by a certain deadline would still be processed. There is now no further funding for new buildings with the EH55 standard, but the program is to be continued for renovations and EH40 houses.
If the one billion for EH40 houses has been used up, according to Habeck, there should be a narrower program with more demanding conditions. “It’s supposed to be an EH40-Plus program, with a quality seal for sustainable building,” he said. In the future, however, most of the money should be invested in renovations, because most emissions are produced in old houses.