Funding guideline for façade greening updated
Amounts increased and conditions simplified after evaluation
The city council today decided to update the funding guidelines for façade greening. A number of conditions were revised to make it easier to claim the subsidy.
The maximum funding amount will be increased by 2,500 euros to 5,000 euros in Zone B and 7,500 euros in Zone A. This is in response to the significant increase in construction costs for both materials and the fees of the contractors. At the same time, a higher grant will make the greening of larger, contiguous façade areas more attractive, which can achieve a greater climatic effect.
The application process will also be simplified. For example, due to the tight market situation for craft services, the provision of materials and price trends, it is no longer necessary to obtain at least three tenders if economic viability is ensured. In addition, some documents that are not mandatory will no longer have to be submitted in future. For example, a self-declaration of ownership or authorisation is sufficient. Proof of own funds does not have to be submitted, as the grant will ultimately only be paid out once the overall measure has been implemented. In addition, the reference in the guideline to the responsibility for obtaining any further necessary authorisations is sufficient.
Since the funding guideline was adopted last autumn, two applications totalling EUR 5,000 had been approved by the deadline at the beginning of May. The programme was discussed 20 times. This falls short of expectations. According to an evaluation, there are various reasons for this: in general, funding programmes for greening buildings have a long start-up phase of at least one year. This experience is confirmed by other local authorities within the Bundesverband Gebäude Grün e. V. (BUGG). Due to the pandemic, the funding guideline was not adopted until the end of September 2021. Only then was it possible to start publicising the funding. After evaluating the consultations with interested parties, the responsible urban planning office sees the need to facilitate access to funding. To this end, the guidelines have been simplified and relieved of restrictions and conditions that are not absolutely necessary.
A budget of 41,500 euros is still available until the end of 2022. The changes that have now been made are expected to increase demand for the funding programme. A further evaluation will be carried out at the end of 2022.