Starting in April, the Next Generation Funds, which are destined to the rehabilitation of buildings, may be requested. It is an important assistance granted by the European Union that is to be used for the rehabilitation of buildings in Spanish neighbourhoods. The Next Generation Funds originated in order to alleviate the impact caused by the COVID as well as to encourage economic growth in the countries of the European Union. Another of its aims is to modernize the European residential park and as we already know, a building which is not energy-efficient poses a great problem for the environment, apart from the considerable economic expense due to the loss of energy that is caused. In this respect, the European Union makes it clear that it wishes to bet on the renovation of buildings, as these recovery funds show, and they will become effective in Spain in a little more than a month´s time. Under the first tranche, 10.000 million euros of the Next Generation Funds have been granted. Last month of August, 9.000 million euros had already been granted and this amount was not subject to conditions. As we have said, part of this assistance will help to boost the rehabilitation of the buildings in our country. Undoubtedly, it is a very good opportunity for the rehabilitation sector which will thus gain more prominence in Spain. The Next Generation Funds will be allocated through the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia “España Puede” (PRTR), which was approved by the Executive in the middle of last year.

MORE THAN 6.800 MILLION EUROS

In all, there is a planned injection of 6.820 million euros of which more than half of this amount will be allocated to rehabilitation and hence economic recovery. It is calculated that 1.994 million euros will be destined to the complete rehabilitation of buildings, 976 millions to restoring neighbourhoods and 450 millions for the tax deductions. One of the most ambitious aims of the Government is to achieve, by means of this plan, the rehabilitation of half a million houses. Apart from this, 20.000 new houses are expected to be built. It is important to point out that the access to this support will have to be carried out through the autonomous communities. Therefore, each different autonomous community will be responsible for publishing the calls and how to gain access to them. As regards the Community of Madrid, 161 million euros will be allocated for these incentives. If we take into account the great problem in Madrid of the lack of building land for new construction, the Next Generation Funds can help to transform the Madrid real estate sector as it would be an important boost in restoring many buildings which need to be updated, especially as regards the issue of energy-efficiency. The Madrid Executive is hopeful that during this second term of 2022 new help will be received.

OBJECTIVE: TO REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY 30%

Another great objective that the Next Generation Funds hopes to achieve is to reduce, at least 30%, the non-renewable primary energy consumption in housing. It is estimated that, currently, in Spain there are around 10 million properties that were built before 1980, out of which 10% show serious energy shortcomings. It would seem sensible that these quite old houses received the support of these funds as nearly all of them are in need of energy-efficiency improvements. Nonetheless, there are also many modern buildings that should improve their energy rating. We must point out, as it serves as an example, that only 0,3% of Spanish buildings are A-rated, a qualification which is only given to the most energy-efficient buildings. These facts and figures reveal that we are indeed very far away from achieving the objective in this aspect. Let us see if the Next Generation Funds allow us to improve this situation.

Picture 01: macrovector

Picture 02: bearfotos