Local services
The city government is planning to relaunch the Debrecen panel housing programme with a budget of HUF 500 million.
“The adoption of the 2023 budget has given priority to sustainability and environmentally friendly developments. The idea was born to relaunch the panel programme in 2023, which has been stopped for a number of reasons in recent years,” Mayor of Debrecen László Papp at a press conference on 22nd of May 2023.
The mayor pointed out that the inflationary trends of recent years have also made lending extremely expensive and that condominiums that have been sufficiently frugal in recent years and had a renovation fund have found it impossible or difficult to renovate their buildings.
“In view of the fact that the financing options have become very expensive, we proposed to the General Assembly that when adopting the budget in 2023, we should re-launch the Debrecen panel housing programme with a budget of HUF 500 million. If the General Assembly approves it, the panel programme will be relaunched this year.
The proposal includes the provision of at least HUF 500 million in the next five years to ensure that the city’s assembly will provide this funding every year. The aim of the funding is to improve energy efficiency, the mayor said. He recalled that the panel renovation programmes were launched in 2001, during the first Orbán government, and for many years they were a good opportunity to renovate panel buildings in Debrecen.
He stressed that not only condominiums but also housing cooperatives based in Debrecen can apply for municipal support under the panel programme. Here you can probably apply in smaller units or per dilatation unit because we have defined the level of support and the amount that can be used for a given project. The subsidy rate will be 25% of the eligible acquisition cost, so a quarter of the funding will be provided by the urban panel programme. This will be a maximum of HUF 750,000 per dwelling, and the maximum amount of support per project will not exceed HUF 100 million, he explained.
He added that the subsidies could be used for replacing windows and doors, insulating facades and ceilings, and replacing lifts to save energy. He said that applications can be submitted from 1 June 2023 and that this year’s framework for the panel programme is open until 31 December 2023. And the municipal authorities have until 29 February at the latest to make the assessments.
He stressed that not only condominiums but also housing cooperatives based in Debrecen can apply for municipal support under the panel programme.
“Housing cooperatives are cooperatives with a much larger area, large housing units and a large number of apartments. They can probably apply in smaller units or per dilatation unit because we have defined the level of support and the amount that can be used for a given project. The subsidy rate will be 25% of the eligible acquisition cost, so a quarter of the funding will be provided by the panel programme. This will be a maximum of HUF 750,000 per dwelling, and the maximum amount of support per project will not exceed HUF 100 million,” he explained the details.
He added that the subsidies could be used for replacing windows and doors, insulating facades and ceilings, and replacing lifts to save energy. He said that applications can be submitted from the 1st of June until the 31st of December 2023. The municipal authorities have until the 29th of February at the latest to make the assessments.
He stressed that applications will be assessed on a first-come, first-served basis and that the application window will remain open until the application budget is exhausted. Once the application is exhausted, this period will be closed, and the next application will be for the 2024 budget.
Viktor Papp, the leader of the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group in Debrecen, noted that there are more than 23,500 industrialised apartments in the city, and the panel programme will not only improve environmental efficiency but also reduce the owners’ overheads, as energy efficiency can be improved by 18-20%. If the properties are also upgraded in terms of heating, the owners of these properties can achieve energy efficiency improvements of up to 50-55%. In recent years, 24% of panel houses in Debrecen have undergone a complete renovation.
Applications can be submitted from the 1st of June 2023 at www.panelprogram.debrecen.hu.
Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu
