Cutting out the red tape that needs to be endured before one can benefit from energy and renovation allowances is the second phase of a plan proposed by Wallonia’s Energy and Housing ministers, Jean-Luc Crucke and Valerie de Bue respectively. In phase one of the Lifting Plan, the assistance awarded to proprietors to pursue energy efficiency and renovate their buildings was increased.
Under phase two, presented on Friday in Namur, there will be a single interlocutor for private individuals wishing to renovate their homes with help from the regional government.
In 2019, private persons in Wallonia will no longer need to run the gauntlet of administrative offices to try and obtain energy the energy and renovation allowances. This is the objective of the single-office proposal jointly launched by the region’s ministers of Energy and Housing and approved by the Government.
In concrete terms, citizens will now only speak to a single official once their application for the allowances is submitted. An audit expert will assess the work to be done and will set a timeline for its completion. Private individuals will not be obliged to carry out all the work included in their application. However, they will not be able to deviate from the list if they wish to receive the allowances provided by the region.
“Caulking the roof of a house that threatens to collapse makes no sense,” the two ministers said in their press release, “but assistance for weather-proofing never used to take into consideration the state of stability of the house, for example. The idea is to obtain an overall picture of the works so as to guarantee the best use of the money invested by the Region and the citizens.”
The Government hopes in this way to enhance interest in the allowances which had scarcely attracted the public because of the complex red tape that has hitherto been needed to obtain them.
In 2017, for example, only 57% of the available budget had, in fact, been used.
The Brussels Times
