Berlin (Reuters) – After criticism of the abrupt end to the promotion of so-called efficiency houses, the federal government has agreed on new regulations.
The ministries for climate protection, construction and finance are in agreement on how to deal with the thousands of applications submitted, the climate ministry said on Tuesday. The applications submitted by January 24 should now still be considered. It is about 24,000 applications. The Efficiency House 40 program will be continued, but capped at one billion euros. In addition, it will be limited to the end of the year. The less strict EFH 50 new construction program is being phased out. Only renovations according to the standard would continue to be funded.
Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had stopped the promotion of efficiency houses and energy renovation last week with immediate effect. The flood of applications in January, especially for the construction of houses according to Standard 55, significantly exceeded the funds provided by the state KfW bank, it said. Since November there have been applications for more than 14 billion euros for this standard alone, with a total volume of 20 billion euros. The Ministry had declared that the Efficiency House 55 subsidy for new buildings would not be resumed because it was the technical standard, but at the same time promised a quick connection solution.
The stop triggered a storm of protests in view of the already tense construction market. Questions were also raised about projects in social housing and projects in the areas in western Germany affected by the flood in summer 2021. Habeck had recently promised that at least some of the applications would still be approved.