New type program, Home Savings, for old properties
The Ministry of Environment & Energy is examining the ways in which energy subsidies can be given to homes built before 1980 that are lagging behind both in energy saving and performance.
In the effort to harmonize with the objectives of the EU, it is expected that there will be more Home Savings type programs at regular intervals, given that by 2030, on average, around 60,000 buildings will have to be upgraded per year.
Despite the fact that the plan to upgrade old buildings is at an early stage, the Ministry has put all the parameters on the table and among those it is working on is to provide incentives to the owners to integrate them. This is 55% of Greece’s building stock that was built four decades ago and which are very low on the energy efficiency list while many of them have not been seismically tested.
Building age data
The Ministry is working on ways in which energy buildings constructed decades ago can be subsidized, given that A determining factor in energy consumption is the age of the buildings. Especially 55% of residential buildings were constructed before the year 1980, i.e. they are thermally unprotected, while due to the economic downturn the number of buildings that Built after 2010 with the minimum requirements of the KENAK is just 1.5% of the total stock of normal dwellings used by households. It is characteristic that 83.82% of the buildings constructed before the year 1980 are class H, according to the Energy Performance Certificates issued until the year 2014, while the buildings constructed in the next three decades were largely class C, D or E.
This was one of the reasons why the Ministry of Environment and Energy proceeded with a memorandum of cooperation with the Technical Chamber of Greece, through which, among other things, the technical instructions of the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulation will be amended, the specifications for RES, bioclimatic, etc., will be updated, while the way in which energy certificates are issued is expected to change.
Modifications through the Home-saving Program-type of old properties
According to information, the Ministry for the current program is considering amendments, which focus on simplifying procedures, ensuring a greater number of beneficiaries, while at the same time not requiring a long implementation time that will delay the start date of submission of proposals. The budget of the specific Home Savings II program that the owners are waiting for in order to subsidize the energy of thousands of households and will come in the coming months is estimated at about 250 million euros. In any case, citizens who want to benefit should have closed any pending issues with a Land Registry and arbitrarily, given that the previous relevant provision will not change and thus, their application will be rejected.
In a second year and in order to achieve the goals set in the National Energy and Climate Plan, a new Home Energy Upgrade Program is expected to be announced immediately with the start of the new Programming Period 2021-2027.
In particular, the new program examines all potential changes that will lead to its rationalization and mobilization of as much private capital as possible, increase the number of submissions, improve application procedures and speed up the completion of the proposed interventions, such as increasing the available budget by combining different sources of funding. In particular, it will include:
- Subsidies from the NSRF or other Community sources
- Bank support through Green-bonds
- Funded by ESCO
- Private participation of building owners
- VAT exemption/reduction for interventions
- Enfia exemption/reductions
- Contribution of the so-called enforcement regime, under which energy suppliers (and henceforth also distribution network operators, i.e. HEDNO and Gas Distribution Companies) will have to – in accordance with Community legislation – make investments and achieve specific energy saving targets.