KfW promotional grants lost
Landlords want compensation
02/14/2022, 11:09 am
The halt to KfW programs is still causing unrest. The Association of North German Housing Companies sees this as a threat to the construction of around 2,000 affordable apartments – and suggests that its member companies sue for damages.
After the back and forth in the case of housing subsidies by the Federal Ministry of Economics, the large housing companies in the north are demanding compensation. As a spokesman for the Association of North German Housing Companies (VNW) said, the actions of Federal Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens in the “Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings” threaten the construction of more than 2,000 affordable apartments.
The member companies would have lost around 52 million euros in subsidies that were planned for well-advanced projects. The association has therefore suggested that the member companies take legal action for damages. Federal Minister Habeck recently tried to give the impression that with his withdrawal of the funding freeze everything was fine again, explained VNW director Andreas Breitner. But that is not the case.
Social landlords who wanted to submit their funding application for a building with the so-called Efficiency 55 standard in the last week of January were left with planning costs. However, the companies had relied on the federal government’s promise that applications for funding for buildings with the Efficiency 55 standard would also be possible until the end of January.
Funding stop from January 24th
Habeck had surprisingly stopped previous funding programs for energy-efficient construction and renovation of the KfW development bank in mid-January. Applications that have been submitted should no longer be approved. Finally, it was said that applications received before January 24th would be processed according to the previously applicable criteria, but that new applications would no longer be possible.
According to the association, 224 apartments are affected by VNW landlords in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and around 1,670 apartments in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The VNW represents 403 housing cooperatives and housing companies in the three federal states, where around 1.5 million people live.