News item | 26-02-2024 | 13:34
The number of low-income homeowners who make their homes energy efficient with the help of the National Heat Fund has increased significantly. This is evident from the CBS and TNO monitor for the first half of 2023. These results show that the sustainability of homes in the Netherlands is continuing.
Home owners appear more willing than in previous years to take substantial energy-saving measures in their homes, such as heat pumps, glass insulation and insulating floors. To finance this, all homeowners can contact: National Heat Fund. They are also eligible for a Investment subsidy for sustainable energy and energy saving (ISDE subsidy).
Hugo de Jonge, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, ‘Previously, mainly homeowners with higher incomes used the National Heat Fund. Fortunately, we have been able to change that recently. More and more people are also using the available subsidies to make their homes more sustainable. That is good news because more and more people are benefiting from an energy-efficient home.’
National Heat Fund: increase in use by owners with low or middle incomes
For years, figures have shown that mainly homeowners with higher incomes use the National Heat Fund. This is changing. Homeowners with low and middle incomes are also increasingly using the National Heat Fund for sustainability measures. This trend break is clearly reflected in the CBS and TNO monitor. This shows that lower income groups have increasingly made use of the National Heat Fund in the first half of 2023. In the first half of 2023, approximately 2,700 homeowners with a low or middle income used the National Heat Fund. There were 2,100 in the whole of 2022 (Monitor CBS and TNO 2022). Among households with the highest incomes, the use of the National Heat Fund actually decreased in the first half of 2023 and is lower than in 2022.
At the end of 2022, the National Heat Fund started offering more attractive loan conditions for homeowners with a low or middle income. Middle-income earners with an aggregate income of up to €60,000 can borrow interest-free. Home owners who cannot obtain a loan from regular financiers can obtain financing of up to € 10,000 through the National Heat Fund. They pay monthly costs according to their ability to pay. The interest is 0% for the entire term and the homeowner does not pay any repayments from income for the first 5 years. After 5 years, a test will be carried out to determine whether the homeowner can pay the repayment. Anyone who sells their house will only repay this loan if there is excess value. Homeowners aged 75 and older can also borrow from the National Heat Fund. An owner registered with the Credit Registration Office can also borrow from the National Heat Fund in certain cases. In addition, homeowners’ associations are eligible for a loan with an interest discount.
Broad government commitment to making low-income households more sustainable
The TNO and CBS monitor confirms that most people with a low income live in rented accommodation. Support for making rental properties more sustainable is provided through measures such as the abolition of the landlord levy, the Subsidy for sustainability and maintenance of rental properties, performance agreements with housing associations and standardization. Households in a vulnerable position with an owner-occupied home can receive support from municipalities through the local approach to the National Insulation Program and the deployment of energy fix teams.
Strong increase in the use of ISDE for sustainability
The monitor shows that insulation was very popular in the first half of 2023 in homes with a label B or worse. The worse the label of the home, the more often the homeowner has taken 2, 3 or more insulation measures. Heat pumps were the most popular measure in homes with a label A or better. And relatively many homeowners used the ISDE subsidy for sustainability in the first 2 years that they live in a house. This subsidy is available to all homeowners.
Since January 2023, it has been possible to apply for ISDE for one insulation measure. This explains part of the increase in the use of the ISDE. In the first half of 2023, an ISDE was issued to homeowners more than 115,000 times: almost one and a half times more than in the whole of 2022. The use of the ISDE for insulation measures has increased in total from 123,000 in the whole of 2022 to 126,000 in the first half of 2023 The use of heat pumps has increased from 32,000 in the whole of 2022 to 33,000 in the first half of 2023.
Research into shortened (simpler) mortgage advice for sustainability
Home owners who want to increase their mortgage to make their home more sustainable can use abbreviated (simpler) advice for financing the sustainability. To clarify the framework for this abbreviated advice, KPMG conducted a study on behalf of the Ministries of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Finance. The research provides insight into the possibilities to save time when providing mortgage advice for sustainability. The basic principle remains that the provision of credit is responsible and fits within the lending standards. This way, homeowners who want to make their home more sustainable receive responsible and affordable advice. The abbreviated advice has been tested in practice via a pilot. Both advisors and their clients are positive. The abbreviated advice saves an average of 3 hours. This will therefore make this advice more beneficial for homeowners. As a result of the investigation, the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) will: vision document ‘Customized services’ to adjust. This provides mortgage advisors with clear guidance on the options for customized services (abbreviated advice).
Policy response report ‘Well organised’
In addition to an explanation of the CBS and TNO monitor and the introduction of the abbreviated mortgage advice, Minister Hugo de Jonge responds to the report Well organised. The Built Environment Implementation Table has made good proposals to accelerate the energy transition in the built environment.
Also see: