News item | 05-12-2024 | 15:15
This year, 340 of the 342 Dutch municipalities have applied for the local approach to the National Insulation Program. The available budget of €674 million can thus be almost fully spent to insulate more than 280,000 homes. Added to last year’s 1st round, municipalities have now submitted applications for more than 490,000 homes to help households with a lower energy bill and lower CO2emissions. A 3rd round is planned next year to support municipalities in this local approach to the National Insulation Program, so that a total of 750,000 homes can be improved up to and including 2030.
From the first round of the local approach by the National Insulation Program 224 municipalities have started their insulation approach. They are actively working: the first 8,000 homes have now been insulated and that number is rapidly increasing. Municipalities have already proactively approached 1.3 million homeowners and 8,700 homeowners’ associations about the insulation approach.
About the local approach
In the local approach, homes are isolated from owner-occupiers and homeowners’ associations that need it most. This is poorly insulated homes and homes with a low WOZ value. Home owners and homeowners’ associations can be guided and receive additional financial support, on top of the nationally available subsidies.
CO2 emissions are falling
The CO2emissions from homes and buildings fell considerably thanks to these and other measures, as shown last month in the Climate and Energy Outlook. Between 2021 and 2023, emissions from the built environment fell from 24.5 to 17.3 megatons of CO2. The objective of the Climate Agreement is to reduce this further to 13.2 megatonnes by 2030. That is a decrease of 55% compared to 1990, when the built environment produced 30 megatons of CO2 emitted.
Low and middle incomes
More and more homeowners with a low or middle income are asking for additional assistance the National Heat Fund take out a loan to make their home more sustainable. In 2023, 18,929 private homeowners took out a loan from the Heat Fund, an increase of no less than 70% compared to 2022. Of these, approximately half had a low or middle income, while these income groups virtually did not use the Heat Fund in previous years. This year the fund expects to lend €450 million, largely to people with a low or middle income. This allows more people to benefit from a lower energy bill, even if they cannot or do not want to use savings.
When using the Investment subsidy for Sustainable Energy and Energy Saving (ISDE) there has been an increase in use by all income groups, including homeowners with a low or middle income. In 2023, almost 3 times as many subsidies were provided to homeowners than 1 year earlier. This made 231,000 homes more sustainable, compared to 81,000 in 2022.
Acceleration agenda for sustainability of homeowners’ associations
From the Acceleration agenda for sustainability of homeowners’ associations Various initiatives have been launched to support homeowners’ associations. Internet consultation on the draft bill to simplify decision-making within homeowners’ associations will start in the first half of 2025. This means that a majority of 50% +1 is sufficient to take sustainability measures, where it is currently often 2/3 or 3/4. Furthermore, Milieu Centraal will open in the spring of 2025 a national knowledge and expertise center for practical support, advice and concrete tools for homeowners’ associations. The expertise center is already available to municipalities and market parties. In addition, since this autumn, Utrecht University of Applied Sciences has started training process supervisors who guide homeowners’ associations during the sustainability process.
Additional support through subsidy schemes
In line with the local approach and the possibilities through the National Heat Fund, various subsidies are available for financial support in making a home more sustainable. For homeowners this is the Investment Subsidy for Sustainable Energy and Energy Saving (ISDE), for private landlords the subsidy scheme for Sustainability and Maintenance of Rental Properties (SVOH) and for homeowners’ associations the sustainability subsidy scheme for owners’ associations (SVVE).