The Commission has already taken a number of steps to ensure that the Commission's proposals are implemented.
High demand led to a technical issue, making it temporarily impossible to submit a funding application on August 6th, as the ministry further announced. Affected parties can retroactively submit their application under the old funding conditions, requiring an informal statement. The ministry warned of fraud attempts: The Bafa had registered applications started on August 6th and verified failed attempts.
The Ministry of Economics had announced on August 5th that funding would be significantly reduced - effective from August 7th. Since then, energy advice for an energy-efficient building renovation has only been covered at 50%, down from the previous 80%. Maximum subsidies have been halved to a maximum of 650 euros for single or two-family houses and 850 euros for buildings with three or more apartments.
"Unfortunately, such decisions come with short notice," the ministry explained on Friday. "This is unfortunately not possible otherwise, to prevent funds from being depleted too quickly by a rush."
On Monday, the ministry explained that the reduction in funding was "inevitable" given the overall budget situation and the continued high demand for funded energy advice. By July of this year, the number of applications for energy advice in residential buildings had reached a record high of 80,000. The federal government expects over 150,000 applications by the end of the year.
An energy advice aims to support consumers in renovating their homes in an energy-efficient manner. This can involve, for example, window replacement or exterior wall insulation. Experts advise on which measures are sensible and in what order they should be implemented.
An individual renovation schedule (iRS) can also be created, which offers further funding opportunities: Those who have an iRS created can receive 20% funding instead of 15% for the actual renovation. The eligible expenses for individual measures are doubled with an iRS, from 30,000 euros to 60,000 euros.
The abbreviation for the individual renovation schedule is iRS. Due to the high demand, applicants experiencing the technical issue on August 6th should submit an informal statement, as stated by the ministry, to retroactively apply under the old funding conditions.
