(46) Financial mechanisms, incentives and the mobilisation of financial institutions for energy renovations in buildings should play a central role in national building renovation plans and be actively promoted by Member States. Such measures should include encouraging energy efficient mortgages for certified energy efficient building renovations, promoting investments for public authorities in an energy efficient building stock, for example by public-private partnerships or energy performance contracts or reducing the perceived risk of the investments.
(47)Financing alone will not deliver on the renovation needs. Together with financing, setting up accessible and transparent advisory tools and assistance instruments such as one-stop-shops that provide integrated energy renovation services or facilitators, as well as implementing other measures and initiatives such as those referred to in the Commission’s Smart Finance for Smart Buildings Initiative, is indispensable to provide the right enabling framework and break barriers to renovation.
(48)Inefficient buildings are often linked to energy poverty and social problems. Vulnerable households are particularly exposed to increasing energy prices as they spend a larger proportion of their budget on energy products. By reducing excessive energy bills, building renovation can lift people out of energy poverty and also prevent it. At the same time, building renovation does not come for free, and it is essential to ensure that the social impact of the costs for building renovation, notably on vulnerable households, is kept in check. The renovation wave should leave no one behind and be seized as an opportunity to improve the situation of vulnerable households, and a fair transition towards climate neutrality should be ensured. Therefore, financial incentives and other policy measures should as a priority target vulnerable households, people affected by energy poverty and people living in social housing, and Member States should take measures to prevent evictions because of renovation. The Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality provides a common framework and shared understanding of comprehensive policies and investments needed for ensuring that the transition is fair.