Loans for climate-friendly, space-efficient new homes (296)

Individuals, companies, sole traders, freelancers, homeowner communities, civil-law partnerships (GbR), nonprofits including churches, housing cooperatives and other private legal entities can apply as the new-build investor or first purchaser. Public-law bodies can also qualify. Federal and state governments and their institutions, federal-majority entities and political parties are excluded. State-majority companies and institutions qualify only where the project performs municipal tasks. Municipal territorial authorities and their dependent undertakings and equivalent associations use programme 498 instead. Applicants subject to insolvency applications/proceedings, or who have made or must make the statutory asset disclosures listed in the terms, are excluded.

• The property must remain in residential use for at least ten years. Report a change or end of use or demolition promptly; KfW can reclaim part of the support.
• Meet Efficiency House 55: calculated annual primary-energy demand must not exceed 55%, and heat loss through the building's outer surfaces 70%, of the statutory reference building. The expert must also check greenhouse-gas emissions over the building's life using the programme's QNG calculation rules, with a maximum of 24 kg CO₂-equivalent per square metre of net floor area per year over a 50-year assessment.
• Pass the project-specific cost test in the mandatory KNN calculation tool. It adds selected construction costs spread over 50 years to annual heating and hot-water energy costs, then compares them with a reference value adjusted for the project and regional prices. The expert checks actual costs again at completion, allowing for the construction price index. Exceeding the limit can lead to cancellation of the loan.
• Each dwelling must meet the room-to-floor-area rules below. Size alone is not enough: a counted room must be an enclosed living room within the dwelling that qualifies as a habitable room under the applicable state building code, and be at least 10 m². Kitchens count even when not enclosed; bathrooms do not. An open-plan kitchen/dining/living area counts as one room unless structurally divided. In buildings with 12 or more dwellings, homes of up to 40 m² may make up no more than 25%; residential homes such as older people's or care homes are exempt from that share limit.

Minimum rooms	Maximum dwelling floor area	Maximum for wheelchair-accessible R-standard dwellings (DIN 18040-2)
1	40 m²	55 m²
2	55 m²	70 m²
3	70 m²	85 m²
4	85 m²	100 m²

Each additional 15 m² requires one more room. Floor area is calculated under the German Wohnflächenverordnung rules, not simply the building's footprint.

• Heating equipment in the building must not use fossil fuels or biomass, including hybrid systems. For supplied heat, a building network serving up to 16 buildings and 100 dwellings may obtain up to 30% of its annual heat from these fuels if it includes at least one building built before 1995 or with a building application before 1 January 1995. Other heat networks are not subject to this fuel restriction.
• Heat pumps need interfaces that allow them to be activated and controlled automatically to support the electricity grid. They must also be compatible with a certified smart-meter gateway, a device for energy measurement and control. The requirement is the ability to connect to such a gateway, not an actual connection. From 2026, outdoor air-heat-pump units must be at least 10 dB below the EU 813/2013 noise limits. From 1 January 2027, only heat pumps with natural refrigerants may be installed.
• Land purchases, replacing existing loans and additional financing for already-started or completed projects are excluded. You cannot receive repeated 296 funding for the same dwelling. A first purchase artificially split into land and construction contracts is excluded where a single contract covered by German developer rules could have been used. Beyond buying a dwelling for your own occupation, the terms also exclude asset transfers between connected companies, companies and their owners or close persons, transfers arising from business splits, transfers between close persons, buying own shares, and arrangements circumventing these exclusions.
• Do not combine 296 with programmes 297/298 or 300 for the same dwelling, or with Bundesförderung für effiziente Gebäude (BEG) for the same measure. Different dwellings in the same building can use 297/298 or 300 only if those dwellings meet both their own programme's rules and the 296 requirements, including the cost and floor-area tests. Other support cannot exceed eligible costs in total. The same costs cannot also receive support under the NKI cooling and air-conditioning directive, the combined heat and power law (KWKG), renewable energy law (EEG) or federal efficient heat-network funding (BEW).

Status

Nabór ciągły

Ograniczenia naboru

• Subject to available funds. Apply before project start; the conditional-contract exception is explained in the application steps.

1. Commission an independent energy-efficiency expert from the federal expert list, in the residential-building category. The expert checks the design and prepares the application confirmation (Bestätigung zum Antrag, BzA), which you sign. Use the mandatory KNN tool for the cost and floor-area tests, and retain its signed results. The expert must be independent of the construction firms and suppliers and commissioned and invoiced separately.
2. Apply through a financing partner, such as a bank, savings bank, building society or insurer, with the BzA. The application must reach KfW before you sign execution-related supply/construction contracts or the purchase contract, not merely reach your bank. Planning and advice can take place earlier.
3. Contracts may be signed earlier with a suspensive condition making them dependent on funding approval; it cannot be added retrospectively. Construction or payment of the purchase price must still wait until after application. Starting after KfW receives the application but before approval is at your own risk. Wait for approval before relying on the money: there is no entitlement and funding depends on available funds.
4. For loans of €700,000 or more, award contracts competitively and economically to capable suppliers, seeking at least three offers where possible. Document the process and outcome.
5. After completion, submit the expert's completion confirmation (Bestätigung nach Durchführung, BnD) through your financing partner promptly, and no later than 36 months after full loan disbursement. Keep the required records for ten years after approval. Invoices must be in German and euros, identify the work and property address, and be paid without cash, with payment evidence retained.