The STEP subsidy (Incentive scheme for energy performance in the rental sector)

The government is providing landlords in the social rental sector with a subsidy of € 400 million for investments in energy-efficiency in the 2014-2017 period with the aim of contributing to the objectives of the agreement on energy saving in the rental sector. The STEP subsidy encourages short-term investments to make residential rental properties energy-efficient. The scheme has been relaxed as of 1 July 2016 with the following changes,- the subsidy sums have been raised. This increase applies to new applications and with retroactive force for subsidies already awarded.- in order to encourage extremely energy efficiency renovation, a subsidy is now also awarded for renovations that exceed the Energy Index (EI) of 1.20. This means that extremely energy efficient renovations such as nearly zero energy homes or energy-neutral homes receive a greater subsidy than previously. The minimum improvement under the Energy Index is, for a number of specific cases, lowered from class 3 to class 2. This means that more houses will be eligible for a subsidy. The link to the Energy Agreement does however remain in place (in 2020 average label B in the social rental sector and a minimum label C for 80% of private rental properties).

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