In old age, the strength sometimes weakens. At home, small barriers can become big obstacles. The good news: A barrier-free renovation is promoted for home owners and tenants.
Iserlohn / Frankfurt am Main (dpa / tmn) - In the bathroom, age is the first thing you notice: it is harder to get into or out of the tub. Or, over time, the steps at the house entrance become an obstacle that you can hardly master with full shopping bags. Life in the house in which the residents have often lived for decades is gradually becoming more difficult.
But there is something you can do about it: "With a few structural changes, the house or apartment can be converted so that you can still live comfortably in old age and with physical limitations," emphasizes Andrea Blömer, head of the Iserlohn regional office of the Association of Private Individuals Builders (VPB).
Make the application first
KfW uses construction grants (age-appropriate renovation 455-B) to support construction measures in residential buildings that reduce barriers in the housing stock. As an alternative, you can apply for a loan subsidy in the product Age-appropriate remodeling - loan (product number 159), informs KfW.
Important: Do not start with the conversions or even place orders for the craftsmen before the application for funding and the approval has been given. Otherwise the measures will not be recognized. The rule is: apply for funding first, then build.
Private individuals can also apply for funding
In principle, any investor can apply for low-interest loans from KfW for age-appropriate conversions, for example apartment owners' associations, but also private individuals such as owner-occupiers of residential property or tenants. Individual or combined measures in existing residential buildings in Germany are funded in the areas of burglary protection and barrier reduction, according to KfW.
Owners or first-time buyers of single and two-family houses with a maximum of two residential units or condominiums in apartment owners' associations can apply for a subsidy for age-appropriate construction (program 159). Tenants are also entitled. Funding is provided through an investment grant.
Owners can take everything into their own hands
"With these programs for age-appropriate renovations, you don't need an expert to assess the project, as with other KfW programs," says Andrea Blömer. The house owner or tenant can take matters into their own hands. "However, he must comply with the general conditions of KfW, for example the minimum width for doors through which a walker or wheelchair must be passed, or the minimum size of the shower."
Tenants need the approval of their landlord for conversions. "He has to grant them if they allow disabled access," emphasizes Anja Franz from the Munich Tenants Association. For normal conversions, the landlord may refuse approval if this involves an intervention in the building fabric. However, if accessibility is a concern, the landlord must agree, even if bathrooms are converted or walls are removed or used. The tenant has to bear the costs himself.
Landlord can ask for security
"The landlord can only refuse this approval if his interest in the unchanged condition of the building or apartment is greater than that of the tenant in accessibility," says Franz. "This is a matter of pure consideration and must be decided by a judge in case of doubt . "
The landlord can also make his consent dependent on the deposit of security so that he can be sure that there is enough money to be able to restore the original condition later after the tenant has moved out.
KfW programs for barrier reduction