The pot for energy-saving homes ran out in a few hours. The real estate industry interprets the quickly imposed app freeze as a disaster.
Frankfurt. This happened quickly: just hours after the start of a new state subsidy for new energy-saving buildings by the German Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KfW), an application freeze was imposed. The funding fund, limited to €1 billion, has run out, as the Berlin Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Wednesday. According to KfW, there was enormously high demand.
Faced with huge demand, the German real estate sector spoke of a “second fiasco with announcement” – in January there was already a controversial subsidy freeze. Specifically, this is the new building allowance for Efficiency House (EH) 40. This means that the building uses 40% of the energy that a standard house needs.
The German Economy Ministry announced in early April that home builders can submit new applications for an Efficiency House 40 from April 20. Economy and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had said that one had to be prepared for the fact that the budget would run out very quickly.
According to reports, the ministry did not expect the funds to run out so quickly. Applications for the state development bank KfW were possible from Wednesday morning. According to the ministry, the budget was already exhausted during the morning. The KfW website read: “Please do not submit any more entries”.
Pot is not increased
A spokeswoman for Habeck spoke of a big race. The one billion euro pot will not be raised.
Funding for Efficiency House 40, which has since been discontinued, provided for a government repayment subsidy in addition to a promotional loan. Subsidy rates have been halved compared to the previous subsidy. The ministry justified this by saying that as many candidates as possible should receive funding.
Earlier in the year, Habeck prematurely stopped KfW’s concessions for energy-efficient construction and renovation shortly before the end of the application period due to a flood of applications. This was justified by the threat of additional costs in the billions.
After strong protests, the German federal government decided that applications received within a certain timeframe would still be processed.
What happens now? Habeck had announced that the gradual reorientation of new building subsidies should be guided step by step to increase sustainability and efficiency.
Funding for the EH40, now discontinued, was the first stage of a new concept by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The second stage started Thursday at KfW – specifically, it is about financing new works in the “EH40 Sustainability” program, which provides for more demanding conditions.
(APA)