NOSingle glass in a neglected frame
NOS News•today, 6:00 PM•Adjusted today, 6:28 PM
To date, private landlords have hardly made use of an important subsidy to make rental properties more sustainable. To date, approximately 3 million euros of the available 152 million euros have been requested, which is approximately 2 percent.
This concerns the so-called Subsidy Scheme for Sustainability and Maintenance of Rental Properties, which can be applied for until the end of 2025. This allows landlords to receive a contribution of up to 6,000 euros per home to have cavity walls insulated, new glass installed, or an energy-efficient ventilation system installed.
The subsidy does not cover the entire investment, because a maximum amount has been set per square meter of glass or cavity wall. The costs for the landlord are therefore a multiple of that.
“In any case, it was not due to our information, because we have informed all our members about it,” says Kavish Partiman of Vastgoed Belang, the interest group for landlords. “But the incentive to invest has disappeared for landlords due to all the recent measures taken by the government.”
By this, the interest group is referring, among other things, to the sharply increased wealth tax on rental properties. In addition, the new Affordable Rent Act may come into effect next year, which will mean that many homes will be subject to a maximum rent. The rental price is calculated on the basis of a points system. Only if a property has more than 186 points does the landlord not have to maintain a maximum rent.
In that points system, it should be extra attractive to become more sustainable: for homes with energy labels A and B, landlords can charge more rent from next year, while with a poor label they will receive a deduction on that maximum price. But for many landlords, it is ultimately not worth the investment.
“I have three homes with energy label E, but they already have double glazing,” says a landlord who wishes to remain anonymous. “The measures I now have to take are a lot more drastic. But that still does not exceed the maximum rent of 1,100 euros. So there is no point in investing, because the rent I can ask remains too high considering the costs.” low.”
The National Insulation Program aims to insulate around 2.5 million homes by 2030. The government has created several subsidy pots for this purpose, totaling 2.5 billion euros. The Subsidy Scheme for Sustainability and Maintenance of Rental Properties is one of them, especially for private landlords.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, 1 in 4 privately owned rental properties currently has a ‘poor’ energy label below E, a total of approximately 315,000 homes. From 2029, landlords will no longer be allowed to rent them out according to the rules.
Landlord Paul Uijtewaal also thinks making his apartment with energy label E more sustainable is far too big an investment. “The apartment is in a complex, but other private residential owners do not want to take measures yet. So now I have to make it more sustainable on my own, because I am the only one obliged.”
Uijtewaal previously told NOS that he therefore sells his homes as soon as a tenant moves out. His first home is now for sale.
‘Landlords again not helped’
The Woonbond, which stands up for the interests of tenants, is dissatisfied with the sustainability results. “Even with a subsidy scheme, the sustainability of the private sector will not get underway,” says a spokesperson. “It means that tenants will again not be helped this winter and that their energy bills will remain high.”
The interest group would especially like to see double glazing made mandatory, or single glazing becoming an official defect, so that tenants can go to court.
The Ministry of the Interior stated in a response that small private landlords in particular are not always aware of the existing subsidy schemes and the points system. That is why they will “bring broader attention to both points in the short term.”
2023-10-21 16:00:01
#Private #landlords #subsidies #sustainability
