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Next cost hammer for homeowners: EU plans renovation obligation

2023-03-17T10:34:42.035Z


After Habeck's heating ban, the EU is now also planning important changes for homeowners. Refurbishment could soon become mandatory.


After Habeck's heating ban, the EU is now also planning important changes for homeowners.

Refurbishment could soon become mandatory.

Berlin – From 2024, the Federal Ministry of Economics wants to ban the installation of new oil and gas heating systems.

This caused a stir, especially among homeowners, after all, switching to other heating methods is often associated with significantly higher costs.

As soon as this news got through, the next cost shock threatened – this time from the EU.

EU building renovation plans: at least energy standard D

According to a draft EU directive, which is available in the

picture

, there should soon be a remediation obligation.

As the newspaper reports, all residential buildings in Germany should achieve energy standard D by 2033.

This should reduce energy consumption and contribute to climate protection.

Finally, the EU plans to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Building energy efficiency class D

The building energy efficiency class D in Germany means that the specific energy consumption of the building must be between 100 and 130 kWh/m²a.

Energy consumption is calculated using an energy certificate, which also contains information on energy weaknesses and recommendations for improving energy efficiency.

There is nothing wrong with these goals for the time being, but rehabilitation is always associated with costs.

After all, better insulation and window replacements and the like are expensive.

“This is politics from cloud cuckoo land.

That is neither affordable nor feasible," complains Haus&Grund association leader Kai Warnecke to

Bild

.

The association fears costs of between 15,000 and 100,000 euros per residential unit.

Meanwhile, there is a massive problem with residential construction in Germany: in 2022, far fewer construction projects were implemented than originally planned.

Mandatory renovation: who should pay for it?

The EU also comments on the subject of costs on a separate question-and-answer website.

It states: “Energy-efficient renovations pay for themselves over time as energy bills are lower and the savings they generate are typically many times greater than the investment required to improve a building's overall efficiency.” To kick-start the renovation , EU funds of up to 150 billion euros are available.

It has not yet been clarified how these will be distributed and how owners will get them.

And what happens if you don't stick to the renovation guidelines?

Ultimately, it is up to the individual countries to decide for themselves.

"The Commission's proposal gives the Member States flexibility in terms of which measures they want to introduce in order to achieve the goals set in the directive," the Commission said at the request of the dpa.

The EU Commission's proposal does not provide for dramatic measures such as expropriations, bans on use or bans on renting or selling.

The member states decide on the sanctions.

However, these must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

Fines or tax increases for houses with poor energy efficiency would be conceivable.

For the time being, however, the EU Parliament must vote on the Commission proposal anyway.

Only then can details be worked out.

(ph/dpa)

List of rubrics: © IMAGO/Manngold

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-17

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