It's been a good three weeks since Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) sparked resentment among thousands of homeowners - and those who want to become one.

On January 24, the ministry stopped all KfW funding programs for energy-efficient buildings, new builds and renovations alike because of the previous flood of applications.

Now the green light is coming from Berlin: From next week - the exact date has not yet been determined - citizens should be able to submit applications again, albeit under different conditions.

Julia Loehr

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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The Budget Committee of the Bundestag has released 9.5 billion euros for federal funding for efficient buildings (BEG), it said on Thursday in ministry circles.

The approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance that is still required is considered a formality.

The so-called commitment authorization is necessary on the one hand so that the applications received by January 23rd can still be processed.

The ministries of the traffic light coalition had agreed on this after harsh criticism from the housing industry.

Around 24,000 applications are involved, 4,000 of them from private households and 20,000 from companies.

The majority of the applications relate to the construction of a so-called Efficiency House 55, whose energy requirement is only 55 percent of a standard house.

Habeck, this type of house is no longer ambitious enough in terms of climate protection.

It is expected that this will soon become mandatory as a minimum standard for all new buildings.

There is a struggle for the Efficiency House 40

However, the money is also needed to fund the renovation of old buildings, which is urgently needed in view of the climate protection goals.

The funding conditions should remain unchanged for the time being.

On the other hand, those who want to build an Efficiency House 40, which is even more economical than the Efficiency House 55, cannot apply for money for the time being. It is already known that there will be 1 billion euros for this by the end of the year.

But the talks between Habeck's house and the Federal Minister of Building, Klara Geywitz (SPD), are still ongoing.

The concept will be presented promptly, it said in Berlin.

From 2023 there will then be a new “climate-friendly building” program.

The coalition agreement states that the greenhouse gas emissions per square meter of living space should be decisive.

From 2025 onwards, the KfW Efficiency House 40 should be the legal minimum standard for all new buildings.

In Berlin on Thursday, Habeck and Geywitz want to outline their plans at the housing construction day.

In the morning, several associations from the housing industry presented their demands.

They warn that affordable housing will hardly be achievable without further subsidies.

"Further tightening of regulatory law with regard to energy efficiency in new buildings and existing buildings is not expedient," says the appeal, in which the General Association of the German Housing Industry, the Tenants' Association and IG Bau are involved, among others.

Half of the houses are unrenovated

According to a new study by the Working Group for Contemporary Building, 60 percent of the German building stock was erected before 1979.

So far, only a small part has been extensively renovated.

The study puts the annual costs for renovations at up to 150 billion euros per year.

By 2045, when Germany is supposed to be climate-neutral, that would be 3.6 trillion euros.

The study cites 2,526 euros per square meter of living space as the cost of a "full modernization" without major interventions in the building fabric.

For comparison: The costs for a new building - pure construction costs, without the price of the land - are therefore 3405 euros per square meter.

The conversion of offices into apartments is comparatively cheap at around 1,200 euros per square meter.

The associations were skeptical about the traffic light coalition's goal of building 400,000 apartments a year.

"It is very, very ambitious to believe that you can now build 30 percent more without state funding," said Felix Pakleppa from the Central Association of the German Construction Industry.

And the political efficiency targets are also met with criticism.

"In reality, the advantage of an efficiency house 40 over an efficiency house 55 is minimal," criticized Axel Gedaschko from the General Association of the Housing Industry.

"It's expensive at most, but it's of very little use." In addition, the resources for building materials and skilled workers are limited.