Bordeaux Metropole, France

Bordeaux Metropole: 85% of households could afford a bank loan to energy renovate their homes!

Private housing accounts for 80% of Bordeaux Metropole’s housing stock and thus has been made a priority of its buildings’ energy-retrofitting policy. The objective of Bordeaux Metropole (Bordeaux Urban Community) is to implement several financing mechanisms that would ease energy-efficient renovation of the housing stock.

A study commissioned by Bordeaux Metropole assessed households’ financial needs as regards energy-retrofitting of their homes. The study took into account the "potential for energy renovation works and energy savings" and the characteristics of the residents, resulting in the evaluation of their "left-over funds" and their energy-saving effort.

The study concluded that 85% of owners in the area would qualify for a bank loan!

The households excluded from the bank offer are low-income households or ones that haven’t finished paying off their property loans yet. Current subsidies reach their limits when households decide to go for ambitious energy renovation which significantly increases the costs. In this case, the number of households who can benefit from a loan decreases. This is why it seems essential to further develop a system of financial assistance for low- and medium-income households.

Nevertheless, more ambitious energy renovation works could be still envisaged by two thirds of the households, provided that they can receive personalised support adapted to each profile and its renovation project.

Willing to tap into this potential, Bordeaux Metropole is developing a set of technical and financial assistance tools adapted to several household profiles that would trigger large-scale renovation of the housing stock:

• The Local Energy Renovation Platform provides technical and financial assistance and provides households with information on existing support schemes, subsidies and public incentives. This independent focal point helps households identify the mechanisms for which they are eligible, depending on the many eligibility criteria, and then facilitates their applications. A communication strategy is also being developed in partnership with local banks to ensure that households with a renovation project are re-directed to the Local Energy Renovation Platform.
• A new budget line - “Cash Advance Fund” – is advancing the grants to eligible beneficiaries (e.g. less independent households eligible for aid from ANAH) and a guarantee fund enables banks to extend their financial offer in the framework of an integrated approach to service provisions and financing.
• Preferential (soft) loans were set up in partnership with local banks, and access to the national zero-interest loan (Eco-PTZ) is promoted and facilitated.

Bordeaux Metropole acts as a mobiliser and coordinator of different players on its territory such as the construction industry, real estate and banking professionals who are all involved in the Local Energy Renovation Platform.

© photo Pline CC BY-SA 3.0

Useful materials

Infinite Solutions Leaflet in French Villes et régions : accélérez votre transition énergétique grâce à des programmes de financement innovants ! Download: PDF - 3.5 Mb

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