The regional government is going to offer aid for the rehabilitation of entire neighborhoods, complete buildings and individual homes. They want that in the next few years - a few years, before July 2026 - the aid is delivered and the works finished. To achieve a 'greener' housing stock with greater energy efficiency. For that plan, it has 160 million euros.

Madrid has turned to those who know best to share ideas on rehabilitation with a view to improving the energy efficiency of homes: Denmark. The Danish ambassador, Jens Kisling, opened the conference organized by his Embassy and the Ministry of the Environment by laying down the basic principles of his policies in this area: "The best energy is that which is not consumed".

In his country they have been applying methods to improve energy efficiency for decades, an advantage in experience that Madrid now wants to take advantage of. The Madrid Minister for the Environment, Paloma Martín, knows that it is time: the Next Generation European Funds represent 300 million euros for housing in Madrid, of which 160 will go to rehabilitation.

At this point, the regional government is planning an explosion of actions to promote improvements that lead to reducing energy costs and switching to more renewable types of energy in homes. As the General Director of Housing for the Community of Madrid, María José Piccio-Marchetti, explained at the conference, "the new buildings that are built are very efficient, the challenge is to improve the old ones", among which "80 percent they have a very low energy rating.” In fact, there are 60 or 70 percent of buildings in Madrid that are prior to 1980.

He recalled that buildings consume 40 percent of the primary energy in the European Union, and are responsible for 36 percent of emissions. The 160 million euros that have come from the Next Generation Funds for residential rehabilitation will be allocated to five specific programs. With one goal: that by November 2023, 22,411 homes are rehabilitated in Madrid.

The Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Agriculture has a program for the rehabilitation of entire neighbourhoods, for which it will speak with the city councils -it has already contacted those of Madrid, Getafe, Alcorcón or Torrejón de Ardoz-, given that these are the ones that They better know which areas are the most suitable for this quest for energy efficiency. There will also be another aid program for the reform of complete buildings, and finally there will also be subsidies on an individual scale, for a single apartment interested in these practices.

Two other programs will be used to create rehabilitation offices that facilitate procedures, and to write the Rehabilitation Book.

The conditions will be practically the same both for the rehabilitation of complete neighborhoods and buildings: they must be projects that reduce the consumption of non-renewable energies by 30 percent, and that reduce demand between 25 and 35 percent: intervene on the envelopes so that buildings retain heat and cold.

The aid will range from 40 to 80 percent of the total budget, depending on the reduction in consumption that is achieved. A single call will be made for the entire Community of Madrid, which is also about to be published, with the same requirements and subsidy percentages. And furthermore, the aid for individual dwellings will collect specific subsidies for consumption reductions and will be complementary to those made in the building as a whole: they will be able to pay for concepts that are outside the previous ones, such as the replacement of windows or in the interior installations of new sources of energy.

Charged to these funds, works already done, started from January 1, 2020, and those that are done now and are finished before July 2026 can be covered. In any case, in November 2023 they must already have those 22,400 committed. homes to be rehabilitated.

Advances of up to 50 percent of the aid to which a community of neighbors is entitled have been studied, to facilitate the start of the works. And formulas are also planned so that, in the event that a neighbor is not in a position to make this expense, this does not block the rehabilitation of the building.