Sharp Increase in Reservations for Heating Subsidies in December

As reported by "Der Standard" on Thursday, around 500 million euros were reserved in December 2024, compared to around 30 million euros in the months before. The rush led to the early termination of the "Get out of Oil and Gas" initiative, which was supposed to run until 2027, just before Christmas.

Funds Reserved for 12 Months

The newspaper speculates that many people have preemptively reserved the funding "just in case," including the possibility that a new federal government might cut the significantly increased funding amounts set by the previous coalition of ÖVP and Greens. During the application process, only a few personal details were initially required to reserve the funding for 12 months.

The Climate Ministry, still under Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens), defended the simple application process to the newspaper. The aim was to provide people with preliminary assurance of support through the uncomplicated reservation system. The funds are only disbursed once the heating system replacement is completed and all documents have been submitted. If this does not occur within a year of reservation, the reserved funds are returned to the funding agency. According to the Climate Ministry, this was the case for about 15 percent of the reserved funds in the past.

5,000 Jobs Threatened

The abrupt end of the funding initiative has recently caused significant frustration among citizens who wanted to replace their heating systems but can no longer apply for funding, as well as in the heating industry. Installers and heat pump manufacturers warned that up to 5,000 jobs were at risk due to the standstill. The Chamber of Commerce demanded a relaunch.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.