ENERGY SAVINGS AT HOME
The programme and its benefits
Energy Savings – Autonomy is a programme jointly funded by the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the EU that is designed to provide incentives for energy saving interventions and enhancement of energy autonomy in the residential building sector, aiming to reduce energy needs and consumption of conventional fuels, in the context of the transfer to an “Energy- efficient home”.
Therefore, the owners of houses, apartment buildings and apartments of a low energy category that meet the requirements and can be included in the programme will receive significant financial assistance of up to 85% (for the lignite regions of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis, the subsidy can reach up to 95%) to schedule the required works and, in this way, upgrade their property. The long-term benefits are equally important, as the energy upgrade to be realised will result in reduced energy consumption of the various functions of the property, which also means lower heating and cooling expenses for the property. At the same time the value of the property rises, as these interventions also achieve the external renovation of the house.
Eligible residences
An eligible residence can be a house, an apartment building, as well an individual apartment. It should be noted that under no circumstances are properties in the building that are not used as a residence (e.g. a store on the ground floor of a building) eligible.
In order for a residence to be eligible, it must fulfil the following general conditions:
- It is legal.
- It has not been marked for demolition.
- It is used as a primary residence.
- According to its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) that has been issued after 26/11/2017, it belongs to category C or lower.
Special conditions for applications of apartment buildings
The programme provides two options for applications of apartment buildings.
- Apartment building application type A.
This type of application, which is submitted by the representative of the apartment building, is linked to individual applications of separate apartments that include upgrade interventions, either for shared areas of the building or not.
- Apartment building application type B – Shared interventions.
This type of application, which is submitted by the representative of the apartment building, includes only interventions in the shared areas of the building, i.e. interventions in individual apartments are not included.
Programme beneficiaries
Natural persons who, during the reference year (tax year 2019) and at the time of application, have a right in rem (full ownership/ usufruct/ bare ownership) in an eligible residence and meet the income criteria are eligible to participate in the programme.
Required supporting documents
Any natural person wishing to participate in the Programme must first check whether they are an “eligible Beneficiary” and whether their property can be considered an “eligible residence” and then ensure that the required online cross-checks are made for the following issues:
- Ensuring access codes to the TAXIS application.
- Income tax declaration (E1),
- Income tax return note
- Unified property ownership tax (ENFIA) return statement
- Building permit
- Floor plan of the property
- Topographic plan
- Deed of property
- Cadastral documents
- Registration with the Land Registry
- Ε9
- Ε2
- Electricity bill
- Identity card or passport
- Energy performance certificate
- Architectural drawings of the property
Eligible interventions
The following interventions can be realised in the context of the programme:
- Replacement of frames (windows, balcony doors, entrance doors and protective panels),
- Installation of an awning,
- Thermal insulation of exterior masonry and the roof,
- Installation or replacement of heating and cooling systems (boilers and air conditioners),
- Installation of a solar water heater, installation of a heat pump,
- Installation of a photovoltaic system, installation of a local storage system for electrical energy generated by photovoltaic systems,
- Electric vehicle recharging point,
- Installation of smart home management systems that help save energy,
- Lift upgrade (for type A & B apartment buildings),
- Lighting upgrade (for type A & B apartment buildings),
Funding of the works
Depending on their family status, the beneficiaries are entitled to the corresponding grant and undertake the payment of the remaining amount with their own funds, or enter into a loan agreement, if they wish, either for the amount they choose or for the amount approved by the financial institution with 100% interest rate subsidy, or a combination of the above.
Subsidy rates for beneficiaries
There is a basic subsidy rate according to the income category.
This rate can be increased as specified below:
- For municipalities belonging to the lignite regions of Western Macedonia and Megalopolis, the basic subsidy rate is increased by 10%.
- A special 10% increase due to COVID-19 is added to the basic subsidy rate for all.
- If an upgrade is achieved for buildings of energy class H and G to an energy category of at least B, an energy premium of +10% is added.
Supplementary information on the programme
For the submission of the application and the monitoring of the project, the interested party can use a project consultant, whose costs are covered directly by the programme after the completion of the interventions and the achievement of the energy target.
Applications will be accepted until the maximum budget of the programme, i.e. €850,000,000, is reached.
The application shall serve as a solemn declaration.
Once the interested party has secured the necessary agreements/consent and has checked the eligibility of the residence, they contact an energy inspector in order to carry out the first energy inspection of the property / building and issue the Energy Performance Certificate. Only interventions completed after the issuance of the above EPC can be considered eligible for the programme.
Each eligible residence of the current “Energy Savings – Autonomy” programme cycle must submit only one application. Residences that have completed one of the previous cycles of the 2014-2020 “Energy savings at home 2” programme are not eligible to participate in the current cycle.
Procedure for joining the programme
There is a specific procedure for joining the programme.
It consists of the following steps:
– Checking the eligibility criteria of the residence.
– Issuance of the 1st energy performance certificate.
– Collection of all supporting documents required for preliminary approval. The timely collection of supporting documents is recommended, so that on the start date of the programme the documents can be submitted directly to the Ministry’s electronic platform.
– Submission of the inclusion application to the Ministry’s platform as soon as the submissions start date is announced by the state.
– Approval of the inclusion application.
– Implementation of the relevant works
– Issuance of a 2nd energy performance certificate.
– Submission of supporting documents and disbursement
What our company does
Our company undertakes the full range of tasks required to complete the programme. Specifically, we undertake:
– Full provision of information to every interested property owner regarding the subsidy rates per income category,
– Eligible residences, programme stages, as well as financial coverage of the works,
– Checking the wholeness of the criteria for inclusion of the beneficiary in the programme,
– Checking the validity of the necessary supporting documents for inclusion in the programme,
– Drafting of the required energy certificate,
– Collecting all necessary supporting documents that the owner does not have, such as building permit, architectural drawings, mapping of the property,
– Inspection and checking of the property,
– Submission of the application to the ministry’s platform,
– Implementation of all works funded by the “Energy savings at home” programme.
You can contact us for more details.