€1,350 grants to insulate your home

HOUSE owners should soon be able to claim help of up to €1,350 to insulate and improve the energy efficiency of their properties through a €135million fund set up by the government.

Called the Fonds de Soutien à la Rénovation Énergétique, a total of 95,000 grants will be available for householders to claim up until 2015.

Income restrictions will apply although these have not yet been officially defined. It was previously suggested that grants would be limited to households with earnings below €35,000.

The aim of the aid is to “help property owners under a certain level of resources to improve the energy efficiency of their home.”

Only certain insulation works will be covered and includes roof insulation, wall insulation, double-glazing and improvements to home heating such as the installation of a wood-burning stove or a condensing water boiler. Work will have to cover two of the above categories and will have to be done by professional fitters.

The aid applies only to properties more than two years old and which are the owner’s main residence.

The exact date of the launch of the scheme is yet to be announced but it is
thought to be soon.

Claims will be handled by the Agence de Services et de Paiement which will check that the work to be done meets the criteria.

The grant can be awarded while using the Crédit d’Impôt Développement Durable tax credit – which has a ceiling of €8,000 for a couple plus €400 for each dependent – and the éco-PTZ (Prêt à taux zéro) interest-free loan for property purchase.

However, it cannot be used alongside house-improvement grants received from
the Agence Nationale pour l’Amélioration de l'Habitat (Anah).
One such grant, called Aide de Solidarité Écologique, was originally only for property owners, but has now been extended to tenants and jointownership properties.
It is available through Anah and the Fonds d’Aide à la Rénovation Thermique and amounts to €3,000 for owneroccupiers who improve energy efficiency by more than 25%.

Tenants and jointownership properties can receive €1,500, but the energy improvement level must be above 35% in these cases. Anah, under its Habiter Mieux scheme, offers grants of up to 50% of the cost of certain major works on ancient buildings, such as a new roof or wall reconstruction, but also has grants for improvements in safety and energy efficiency on such properties.

The ceiling for the cost of major works is €50,000, while the improvement works ceiling is €20,000.
Doing work to insulate a roof could cut energy consumption by 30%, while insulating walls can save 16%, as can insulating floors. Installing double-glazed windows and doors can save 13% on energy consumption.