GEFF home energy renovation loan
Borrow for approved insulation, windows, heating or solar technologies in a home, with a conditional GEFF incentive after installation and verification.
Esta oportunidad está disponible actualmente en inglés.
GEFF, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s green financing programme, supports energy-saving home improvements. This household loan can pay for approved wall, attic, roof or floor insulation, replacement windows and doors, heat pumps, solar panels, biomass boilers, ventilation and hot-water tanks. NLB pays the approved loan to the seller; you repay the borrowed money, interest and applicable charges in instalments.
You can borrow up to €25,000 without a mortgage for up to eight years, or up to €50,000 with a mortgage for up to twenty years. A mortgage gives the bank security over a property. Both routes require a signed promissory note, a document securing your repayment obligation; the bank may require further security and related services.
The bank’s examples show a fixed annual interest rate of 5.99% and an annual percentage rate including specified charges of 6.17% for €25,000 over 96 months, calculated on 5 May 2026. The mortgage example shows 5.49% interest and 6.07% annual percentage rate for €50,000 over 240 months, calculated on 11 February 2026. These are examples: your offer and any additional security costs can differ. Both examples show no application-processing or monthly loan-account fee, plus €2 for a promissory note and €3 for the credit-register check. The mortgage example also includes property valuation, property insurance, a property-register extract and life insurance; the life premium depends on your circumstances. For the mortgage route, you also pay the notary and mortgage-registration charges.
For a project within a flat or house, a separate GEFF incentive after completion can cover up to 20% of the lower of the loan actually paid out and verified eligible project costs. NLB describes up to 15% for one technology category and up to 20% for two or more categories, such as new windows and a biomass boiler; GEFF determines the final amount after verification. To qualify for the maximum incentive when installing a biomass boiler, heat pump or solar collector, that technology must cover the project’s energy needs. For a photovoltaic system, it must supply a significant share of the project’s electricity needs and have at least 3 kWp of capacity. The incentive is conditional; NLB does not determine your entitlement or its amount.
Eligible incentive costs include the main technology and permitted installation/material costs. Those additional costs are capped as a percentage of the main technology’s price: 600% for external-wall insulation; 200% for partition-wall insulation; 100% for roof/floor insulation or biomass boilers; 70% for heat pumps; 50% for solar water heating; 25% for windows/doors, ventilation or hot-water tanks; and 10% for photovoltaic systems. Domestic appliances, including refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners, do not qualify for the incentive.
Eligibility
- Individual household borrowers can apply. NLB must approve your ability to repay under its credit assessment. Use equipment in the GEFF Technology Selector or equipment/projects approved by the GEFF team; every measure must contribute substantially to the project’s energy savings.
- You do not have to own the property or live at its address, and you can finance a family member’s project. You must have authority to install the technologies, including the owner’s permission where needed, and obtain required permits under Montenegro law.
- The home must not be used, or intended for use, as business premises. The loan cannot fund a new development on an undeveloped site, land purchases, speculative property resale, replacement of existing borrowing or VAT you can recover.
- Do not duplicate the same measure in the same home or use another grant or investment incentive for the project. Renewable-energy projects that can benefit from national support, such as feed-in tariffs or municipal grants, are excluded from the GEFF incentive.
- For insulation in an apartment building, an entire façade from ground to roof or the entire roof must be insulated; work limited to one apartment’s portion does not qualify. Partition-wall insulation qualifies only between spaces with different temperature needs, such as heated and unheated rooms.
- Keep the financed technologies permanently installed and allow requested GEFF, EBRD, donor or EU inspections. An incentive paid improperly, obtained through incorrect documents, misused or associated with removed/nonpermanent equipment or prohibited practices must be repaid. Keep loan records for at least five years after whichever happens later: full repayment, or the end of any relevant OLAF (the EU’s anti-fraud office), donor or EBRD audit/investigation.
How to apply
- Estado
- Abierto continuamente
- Condiciones de la convocatoria
- NLB assesses each loan application. Obtain the separate project-verification deadline from NLB; keep the loan in repayment until GEFF confirms verification is complete.[^c13]
Use NLB’s GEFF product page to request an individual offer, select the GEFF loan and your branch, and give consent to the Central Bank of Montenegro credit-register check. You can also submit your application at an NLB branch.
First select the approved technology and download its GEFF eligibility certificate, then obtain the seller’s proforma invoice. If GEFF has approved a product that is not yet visible in the Technology Selector, NLB accepts the GEFF engineer’s email instead of the certificate when you apply for the loan. Submit the signed loan and GEFF forms, identification and the employment/income documents requested by the bank, including salary-deduction arrangements where applicable. If you do not transfer your income or use employer deductions, the non-mortgage route requires a standing order. If a guarantor is required, supply their documents too. The mortgage route additionally requires a valuation, property records, mortgage registration and property insurance assigned to the bank for the loan period.
After approval NLB pays the seller. Complete installation and apply separately for the incentive through the online GEFF Verification Management System reached from the local GEFF website. Provide final invoices, payment proof, the technology certificate and photographs following the GEFF photo manual, plus applicable energy certificates, permits and other requested documents. GEFF checks the documents and may visit the project; an approved incentive is paid into your account at NLB.
Obtain your project’s final verification deadline from NLB. The project must be verified by that date, and the loan must remain in repayment until you receive GEFF’s official notice that verification is complete. Paying the loan off in full before that notice removes eligibility for the incentive.