More than 6 out of 10 Spaniards are unaware that there is aid for energy rehabilitation of homes

2023-06-25 12:37:19

More than half of the Spanish population is unaware that there are public aid with which they could finance part of the works of energy rehabilitation of their homesincluding almost 7,000 million euros of European funds.

In fact, according to the Confederation of Consumers and Users (CECU), more than six out of ten citizens (61%) have no idea that they could ask for funds to help them with the rehabilitation works of their flats so that they are more energy efficient.

“There are the 6,850 million euros of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) financed with European Next Generation funds, but They haven’t made themselves known enough.“, explains the person in charge of CECU projects, Paz Serra.

In this sense, Serra argues that not only the Spanish housing stock is aging, but also the population; and he asks to make an effort to favor that the information on aid to promote the rehabilitation of homes reaches and is also understandable for the elderly.

advance the money

Once the information reaches potential stakeholders, another problem that prevents aid from being used “is always the need to advance investment“, something that” is a barrier for consumers with fewer resources.

In this sense, Serra highlights the initiative of Extremadura to establish a system of public guarantees to advance the initial investment of vulnerable consumers.

Together with the lack of information, the CECU points out that aid does not end up reaching the population because they normally rehabilitate their houses to modernize them or to make them more accessible, but they don’t think so much about making them more energy efficient.

However, the European Union establishes that from 2030 all homes must have at least an “E” energy rating (which indicates that their energy consumption does not exceed 110% of the average) and that three years later they will have to have passed to “D” (does not exceed 100%).

There are funds to double the number of rehabilitated homes

According to the National Association of Distributors of Ceramics and Construction Materials (Andimac), 82% of Spanish homes have a classification of “E” or worse.

This is a direct consequence of the fact that, according to data from the Superior Council of the Colleges of Architects of Spain (CSCAE), more than half of the residential buildings were built before 1980when the first regulations governing the thermal conditions of buildings entered into force.

Concretely, 5.5 million residential buildings and about 9.7 million main houses are prior to that year.

However, in 2019 only 25,554 homes were rehabilitated, according to their data, and in 2022 there were 34,525 homes, 35% more, according to the CSCAE.

In between, during the pandemic period (2020-2021), Andimac detected a upturn in reforms (as people were forced to spend more time at home), to then fall to 1.4% in 2022 and predictably close to 3% in 2023.

In any case, these figures are far from the 300,000 or 350,000 homes that would need to be rehabilitated each year to achieve decarbonisation of the sector by 2050, as Spain has promised to do to comply with the Paris Agreements.

The EU establishes that from 2030 all homes must have at least one “E” energy rating. EP

The European funds provided for the energy rehabilitation of homes in Spain will make it possible to undertake more than half a million interventions by 2026, which would mean an average of 71,000 homes per year (more than double the number carried out).

Resources to access public aid

To access these European aids, an energy efficiency certificate drawn up by an architect must be presented before starting the rehabilitation procedures and a new one at the end of the reform, with the aim of demonstrating that the improvement in energy efficiency has been carried out.

Los resources are directed to habitual residences, for rent or in expectation of rent and works such as window changes, thermal insulation of the home or the installation of renewable energy supply and self-consumption can be financed.

For neighborhood communities there is also aid dedicated to improvements such as structural repair, thermal insulation, elevator installation or repair and humidity control.

The AIDS They not only cover the costs of the works, but also the costs of preparing the project and reports, or the management of the aid itself.

The College of Architects recalls that energy renovation works for homes and buildings are taxed at a reduced rate of 10% and that there are various tax deductions linked to this type of renovation, while the amount of direct aid received does not have to be declared.

Among the planned tax deductions, it is established, for example, that for home reforms there is a deduction of 20% of the payments (up to a maximum of one thousand euros) if the demand or need for heating and cooling of the home is reduced by the works, at least 7%.

It is also possible access the deduction of 40% of payments (a maximum of 3,000 euros) if the works reduce the energy consumption of the home by at least 30% or the energy certificate is improved to class “A” or “B”.

In relation to renovations in owner-owned buildings, there is a deduction of 60% of the payments (a maximum of €9,000) if the works achieve the same results as those necessary for the 40% deduction in home renovations.

To access the deductions, payments must be made by credit or debit card, bank transfer, personal check or deposit into accounts at credit institutions, and never in cash.