Status: 04/01/2023 06:55 a.m
Energetically renovating or modernizing a property should be worthwhile again. There have been new funding programs since March. The most important innovations and what pays off for whom – an overview.
The steps to Andreas Halboth’s house are still a bit slippery. The downpour is just over. But the architect and energy consultant from Franconia is happy about that, because there is a rainwater cistern under his wooden house. “The house was built in 1996,” he says with some pride. “And it still exceeds current energy standards.”
Halboth is someone who is passionate about his job – and he is correspondingly passionate about energy-efficient real estate. And of course he is well acquainted with the new federal funding opportunities. However, he sends one thing up front: “Anyone who comes to me for advice to tap into subsidies and not to really save energy, I’ll let them run up.”
Complete renovation or individual measures
Nevertheless, he understands the interest of all those who are currently faced with the big question of how to bring their property to a new energy level. With the newly launched funding program, which has been in effect since March 1, 2023, there are now roughly two ways in which this can be achieved, explains Halboth.
On the one hand, there is the way of complete renovation: with an investment sum of up to 150,000 euros per residential unit, the KfW bank grants a loan. It then charges significantly lower interest rates than would be the case with standard financing loans. “Calculated over a period of ten years, based on the current status, this makes savings of 30,000 to 40,000 euros in comparison,” explains Halboth.
What the efficiency house levels say
The so-called efficiency house levels are intended to indicate how energy-efficient a building is. The decisive factor is the overall energy requirement of a house and how well the building envelope is insulated.
The smaller the key figure, the lower the energy requirement. The scale is a reference building according to the specifications of the Building Energy Act. Compared to this building, for example, the Efficiency House 40 only needs 40 percent of the primary energy, i.e. the energy sources that can be used directly.
Favorable KfW interest rates only for energetic refurbishment
However, the granting of this loan is subject to conditions: the property must meet energy standards after the renovation. There is an additional incentive to achieve this: the more energy-efficient the renovation is, the more the loan amount is subsequently reduced.
An example: Anyone who manages to bring their house into the average energy efficiency class 70 with the help of renovation measures gets ten percent of the original loan amount waived. For a house that achieves the best efficiency class 40 after renovation, it is 20 percent.
If the house was particularly bad from the start in terms of energy, the KfW gives a further ten percent “price reduction”, and if at least 65 percent of the house uses renewable energy, another five percent is deducted from the original loan amount. This reduces the loan amount previously applied for by up to 35 percent. All of this must be applied for and checked by an energy consultant.
BAFA supports individual measures
In order to completely refurbish a two-family house in terms of energy efficiency, owners quickly need several hundred thousand euros, but not everyone has that much money on the high edge. Therefore, there is still the possibility to get support for individual measures. However, it is not the KfW that is responsible for this, but the BAFA, the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control.
The goal is the same: real estate should achieve better energy efficiency classes. Again, the bigger the improvement, the more money there is. However, the funding opportunities are somewhat different. For example, anyone who replaces a 20-year-old gas or oil heating system with a ground-source heat pump can get a 40 percent subsidy for the costs. There is a little less money for other heating technologies. Measures on the facade, on the roof or for heating optimization are subsidized with 15 percent.
Even with a small budget, energy advice can help
However, the eligible costs per year may not amount to more than 60,000 euros. In contrast to the KfW loan, several rounds of funding can be applied for for the same building, and it is not absolutely necessary to consult a specialist: owners can also submit some applications themselves.
But a professionally trained look in advance – for example from an energy consultant who is appointed by the consumer advice center – can also be very helpful here. Where exactly is the savings potential? And in which order are the energetic refurbishment measures best carried out in order to have the greatest effect? There is also the option of having an individual renovation schedule (iSFP) drawn up; it is also subsidized.
And: You can get funding from both KfW and BAFA. For example, a loan can be taken out from the KfW, while the special renovation measure is funded by the BAFA. It is important here, however, that orders and invoices are strictly separated from one another, so that double funding of individual measures is avoided – because that would be inadmissible.
“The social component is missing”
However, there is hardly any additional funding for new builds. However, a KfW loan can still be worthwhile here because the interest rates are low compared to other loans. “It pays off again when as many residential units as possible are renovated,” explains energy consultant Halboth from Münnerstadt in Franconia.
Overall, he finds the new support system quite good. It prevents better than the old model that actually unnecessary investments are subsidized. But he lacks the social component: “The older person who lives in a house alone and now wants or has to replace an old oil heating system is not specifically supported.” Halboth would find it “more than fair if you could really make a distinction based on income or pension.”
The Federal Ministry of Economics is currently working on exactly this social component. According to the house, a funding program worth billions is planned. Minister Habeck (Greens) declared in a press conference at the beginning of March that “climate neutrality must not become a social problem”. How exactly the social component will look like in the end is still unclear.