The government announced a reform of MaPrimeRénov’ for 2024, with significant changes in the eligibility criteria and the aid calculation.
If the objective is to encourage comprehensive and ambitious renovations, some households could find themselves losing out with the disappearance of aid for insulation work carried out alone.
MaPrimeRénov’ 2024: More restrictive eligibility conditions
From now on, to be eligible for MaPrimeRénov’, you will need carry out at least a bunch of work including two different actions in terms of thermal insulation, as well as a ventilation renovation.
In addition, the work must allow a gain of at least two energy classes on the energy performance diagnosis (DPE).
This measure clearly aims to put an end to “single-action” renovations and to encourage more global projects and ambitious in terms of energy performance.
The government wishes to promote renovations allowing a real qualitative leap in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions.
However, this tightening of eligibility criteria risks severely penalize households only being able to financially support limited insulation work. Many owners with modest incomes were counting on MaPrimeRénov’ to gradually improve the insulation of their homes, starting with the most urgent or affordable actions.
From now on, they will have to finance these first partial insulations alone, before being able to claim MaPrimeRénov’ aid when they embark on a global project.
This paradigm shift effectively leaves many households unable to begin the energy renovation of their homes.
Energy renovation: Reduced aid for certain equipment
Another notable change: from April 1, 2024, the help for installing wood heating will be reduced by 30%.
If the objective is to promote efficient renewable energies such as heat pumps, this drop will hit hard households with modest incomes heating with wood due to a lack of means to invest in more expensive solutions.
Fact, firewood remains an affordable solution for owners who cannot afford the high cost of geothermal or aerothermal heating. The reduction in aid for this energy risks compromising their efforts to improve their heating system, despite the positive impact of wood in terms of CO2 emissions.
It is reasonable to question the merits of limiting aid to a solution that is certainly imperfect, but which often constitutes the only financeable option for low-income households who nevertheless wish to initiate an energy transition.
The end of aid for insulation alone
Above all, the reform indeed ratifies the end of subsidies for insulation work carried out alonewithout being integrated into a broader bouquet of work.
Concretely, owners will no longer be able to benefit from any MaPrimeRénov’ assistance to finance attic, wall or floor insulation carried out independently of an overall project.
This measure will severely penalize owners wishing to insulate their homes in stages, starting with the most urgent or affordable actions depending on their budget. From now on, they will have to finance these first partial insulations alone, before being able to claim MaPrimeRénov’ aid when they embark on a complete project.
Here again, many households with limited incomes will find themselves in an impasse, forced to postpone indefinitely insulation work that could have been undertaken thanks to previous aid. We can fear a collapse in the number of insulation projects carried out each year, which would be a hard blow for the sector.
Strengthened support for ambitious renovations
Certainly, the government argues that households undertaking comprehensive renovations will benefit from increased aid, which can reach 70 000 euros for the most modest. Support from certified professionals will even become mandatory, in order to guarantee the quality of projects.
It is true that the most ambitious renovations, achieving a gain of 4 energy classes, can be financed up to 80% of their total cost thanks to MaPrimeRénov’. On paper, this massive aid should make it possible to increase the number of projects allowing a real energy leap.
However, many households will objectively not be able to afford the initial cost of such large-scale projects, even if public subsidies reach unprecedented levels. In the absence of aid for limited initial work enabling them to actually begin their renovation, there is a great risk that some people will simply give up on improving the insulation of their homes.
A system to be adjusted for greater social efficiency
Ultimately, this reform of MaPrimeRénov’ 2024 seems perfectible, and would benefit from being adjusted in order to avoid penalizing households with limited means in their efforts, even modest ones, to undertake an energy renovation.
Rather than purely and simply cutting insulation aid, shouldn’t we better target households according to their resources and their ability to finance large-scale work? Social criteria could usefully complement the technical criteria of the system alone.
Reflection is also needed on intermediate solutions, between the sprinkling of aid for isolated actions, and overall renovation beyond the reach of many. For example, making insulation aid conditional on the concomitant completion of at least one other action (change in heating or domestic hot water mode, etc.).
In any case, the government will have to listen to feedback from the field and will perhaps be able to rectify the situation, to adapt its aid system to the diversity of situations. The challenge is nothing less than guaranteeing the social effectiveness of MaPrimeRénov’, beyond just energy objectives. To be continued…
My name is Michael. I am a journalist for this magazine where I analyze and break down current events in order to provide you with articles that will allow you to have as nuanced and fair an understanding of global issues as possible. Passionate about creating bridges between stories and people, I joined this site to practice interactive journalism, where each article is an open dialogue with the reader.
