Thousands of builders are affected by the funding freeze.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin After the sudden halt to KfW funding, many house builders can now count on money for their energy-efficient houses. The ministries involved agreed on Tuesday that applications received before the funding stop on January 24 should be processed according to the old criteria. The Ministry of Economics also confirmed this to the Handelsblatt, previously the dpa had reported on it.
Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck described the solution that has now been found as a “generous regulation backwards”. At the same time, there is a “stricter regulation going forward,” said the Green politician in Berlin. He made it clear that after the funding stop, he initially favored hardship regulations. However, this was not legally possible. For this reason, all eligible applications received before the application freeze should now be approved. After that there is a “clear cut”.
The solution now entails a “certain over-funding”, according to Habeck. It will cost the federal government an additional five billion euros. Compared to continuing the program, however, the federal government “saved” between seven and ten billion euros.
Habeck said the funding freeze triggered resentment, disappointment and anger, but was “imperative” and “necessary” because the funds were no longer sufficient.
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The federal government is also planning another funding program for energy-efficient construction, but wants to make new demands. In the future, only renovations and new buildings with the EH40 standard should be funded, said Habeck. For the so-called efficiency houses 40 there should be reduced funding. The program should only apply until the end of the year and should have a cap of one billion euros.
This is to prevent a storm of applications just before the end. Another program for climate-friendly construction should then be set up.
Thousands of open applications
The federal government had prematurely stopped funding for energy-efficient buildings in view of a flood of applications and high costs. Applications could only be submitted by January 24 instead of January 31. How to deal with applications that have already been submitted but not yet approved was an open question for a long time.
The funds previously provided by the state development bank KfW were not sufficient for this: 24,000 applications remained open, 4,000 of them from private builders. They should have received up to 18,000 euros from the state for a so-called efficiency house 55 per residential unit.
The state development bank KfW had previously announced that it was working with the federal government on a solution for builders. “The freeze on orders and funding from federal funding for efficient buildings has led to a great deal of disappointment and uncertainty. Rest assured that this is very important to us on the KfW Executive Board,” said Stefan Wintels, who has been head of KfW since October, in Frankfurt on Tuesday. “We are in contact with the relevant ministries and hope that we can offer a solution quickly.”
More: Comment: The halt to KfW construction funding sends the wrong signals