FINANCING A DEEP RENOVATION WAVE
This note gathers the contributions of some ten European experts on energy renovation and finance.
Its main purpose is to provide decision makers with financing solutions to achieve the deep renovation of the EU building stock and meet our climate objectives.
It follows the holding of a Web conference on 8 April 2021, entitled « Investing in Deep Renovation for Recovery: a how-to guide for Member States ».
Here are some of the ideas developed in the note:
- The National Recovery and Resilience Plans are a unique public investment opportunity to support the transformation of Europe’s building stock. In return, transforming our building stock will stimulate the economy, create jobs, lower health expenditures, and reduce income and environmental inequalities;
- Renovating our building stock within the EU remaining carbon budget requires the implementation of a very ambitious industrial model;
- A European Renovation Loan, at zero-coupon and EU borrowing rates (the under utilisated loan component of Next Generation EU will be used as guarantee), would allow home owners with tight budgets benefit from cash savings immediately by rolling up interest payments until the loan matures (30 years) or the property is transferred;
- A Re-Mortgaging Renovation Loan, originated by banks and guaranteed on the property, would allow home owners benefit from competitive financial terms, equal or even better than the home loan due the existence of a Greenium (spread in favor of green bonds on the market);
- The European Central Bank (ECB) could address affordability even further by refinancing banks issuing renovation loans at advantageous conditions trought its TLTROs program;
- These financing solutions must be combined with public subsidies for low income households. And public subsidies should only support deep renovations.