Romania Regional Development Min To Subsidize Interests On Homeowner Loans For Thermal Rehab

Udrea said this decision was made by the Government, through an emergency decree, and is being implemented via lender CEC, She added a contract or convention with lender BCR will also be concluded and, she went on, other lenders are also expected to join the project, whereby banks grant loans, on a five-year period, to homeowners interested to have their homes thermally refurbished.

Udrea said her ministry’s budget cannot cover the funds needed to keep running the existing thermal rehabilitation program, which, she stressed, „was very successful last year.” Udrea pointed out that if the thermal rehabilitation program went on the way it is now, „it would take 100 years” to thermally refurbish the approximately three million apartments in Romania.

Early May this year, Udrea said she plans to introduce a new thermal rehabilitation program, whereby the Government will guarantee the loans contracted by homeowners for their homes’ thermal rehabilitation. Udrea stressed at the time that „everybody is displeased” with the existing program, whereby thermal rehabilitation costs are 50% covered by the state, 30% by local authorities and 20% by homeowners.