The thermal renovation of buildings is a major challenge in the fight against energy poverty (5.2 million thermal sieves and 3 million households in energy poverty), but also against global warming (the sector represents 23% of CO₂ emissions and 43% of energy consumption). However, it is the subject of aid deemed still insufficient.
The envelope devoted to the energy renovation of private housing in the 2023 budget is roughly similar to that of 2022, with 2.5 billion euros earmarked for the MaPrimeRénov ‘system, set up in 2020. The aid finances mostly limited work (boiler replacement, insulation, etc.) and amounted to an average of 3,000 euros paid in the form of a bonus, according to a recent opinion from the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE).
According to the report “Renovate better: lessons from Europe” by the High Council for the Climate (HCC), to meet the objectives of the national low carbon strategy, “the pace of energy renovations must greatly accelerate (…) by 2030 »with particular emphasis on comprehensive and efficient renovations, which remain very much in the minority.
The millefeuille of devices
Among the new features, a one-stop shop, the France Rénov’ website, was launched at the beginning of 2022 for individuals: the platform presents the aid available, a directory of professionals and personalized support, based on 1 800 advisors in 500 spaces.
Indeed, alongside MaPrimeRénov’, other aid can be combined, such as energy savings certificates (EEC) or aid from local authorities. But some schemes are subject to income conditions, others are reserved for certain types of work, etc. The purpose of these aids, their amounts and their conditions of attribution often vary without the official platform being necessarily updated.
To try to see more clearly, we have listed the main aid, valid for applications at the end of 2022, in the table below. The specific allocation conditions and their amounts are likely to change at the beginning of next year.
The assessment of “almost out of reach” aid
If the thermal renovation assistance devices are difficult to read for households, the measurement of their effectiveness is not more so, laments the Court of Auditors in a summary addressed this summer to the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne.
Determining whether the objectives set by law are achieved is, “in the state of available data, almost out of access”while the “financial assistance schemes for energy renovation mobilize (…) a significant volume of expenditure that the court estimates at more than 7 billion euros in 2021”by adding national and local aid, as well as energy saving certificates from companies, but without counting the 6.3 billion euros committed with the recovery plan for 2021 and 2022 for the energy renovation of buildings.
Faced with this finding, repeated in numerous reports in recent years, the court recommends that the authorities“ensure the availability, interoperability and reliability of data enabling the effectiveness of energy renovation systems to be measured”. In her response to the Court of Auditors at the end of October, Elisabeth Borne highlights the initiatives already undertaken, and shares “the general objective of improving the quality of data on energy renovation”.
The National Observatory for Energy Renovation (ONRE), created three years ago, should from 2023 “produce more regular conventional monitoring indicators”promises the head of government, who also announces “a survey on energy renovation works (…) carried out on a large scale [200 000 logements] ».