Heating grant for owners’ associations (WEG) in Germany
When an owners’ association replaces its central heating, the association applies for the basic grant and each owner-occupier for their bonuses. This is how KfW calculates it, using a seven-flat building.
Worked through by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Your share of the association grant
Your grant in total
€8,330
| Association’s basic application | €35,700 |
| Your share of it | €4,463 |
| Your additional application (bonuses) | €3,868 |
| Your net share of the cost | €10,420 |
Replacing a gas boiler of 20+ years; you live in your flat.
When a German owners’ association (Wohnungseigentümergemeinschaft, WEG) replaces heating that belongs to the common property, the association files the basic application with KfW and receives a 30 % basic grant on the eligible costs of the whole building. The cap grows with the number of flats; for seven flats it is €111,000. Owners who live in their own flat then file an additional application for the climate speed bonus and the income bonus. It is based on their ownership share of the costs, limited to an equal slice of the cap per flat, here €15,857. In KfW’s example a heat pump costing about €140,000 replaces a 25-year-old gas boiler. The association receives €33,300. An owner with a 15 % share and €50,000 income adds €4,123 through the additional application, or €6,343 with a child. An owner who lets their flat gets only their part of the basic grant, €4,995. The additional application is due within 6 months of approval of the basic one.
Two applications for one heating system
In a German owners’ association the central heating belongs to all owners together, so KfW splits the grant into two applications (information sheet 458). The association files the basic application (Basisantrag) for the common property. It brings a 30 % basic grant on eligible costs, limited by the cap for the whole building. Each owner who lives in their own flat and qualifies for bonuses files an additional application (Zusatzantrag): the climate speed bonus when an old fossil system is replaced, and the income bonus when household income is low enough.
The additional application must arrive within 6 months of approval of the basic one and before the association submits its proof. KfW does not provide for changing the bonuses later (KfW product page). The association is bound by the same contract rule as anyone else: before the basic application, only a contract with a condition tied to grant approval may be signed.
KfW’s example: the Am Grünen Grund 4 association
KfW works through an association with seven flats on its product page. An air-to-water heat pump replaces a 25-year-old gas boiler at a cost of about €140,000. The building cap is €28,000 for the first flat, five times €15,000 and once €8,000 for the seventh, €111,000 in total. The basic application yields 30 % of that, €33,300.
For the additional application the ownership share counts, but no more than an equal slice of the cap per flat: €111,000 divided by seven is €15,857. On that come the 16 % climate bonus and the income bonus, until the flat reaches the ceiling of 70 % or 80 %. Our calculator reaches the same amounts as KfW.
| Owner | Share | Income | Rate | Additional | Share of basic | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat 1, no child | 15 % | €50,000 | 56 % | €4,123 | €4,995 | €9,118 |
| Flat 3, one child | 15 % | €50,000 | 70 % | €6,343 | €4,995 | €11,338 |
| Flat 7, no child | 12 % | €30,000 | 80 % | €6,660 | €3,996 | €10,656 |
| Flat that is let | 15 % | any | 30 % | €0 | €4,995 | €4,995 |
Flat 3 shows the family allowance: with a child KfW counts €10,000 less income, so the income bonus rises from 10 % to 30 %. Together with the basic grant and climate bonus that would pass 70 %, so it is cut to that ceiling. Flat 7 gets the lowest income band of 40 %, and its ceiling rises to 80 %. Its cost share is below the slice per flat, so the bonuses apply to the full share. The bands are explained under income bonus. Income means the average on your German tax assessments for the second and third year before applying; income earned abroad counts too.
Your income bonus
Income bonus
40 %
| Income counted | €28,000 |
| Overall ceiling | 80 % |
| Grant on €28,000 (gas, 20 years) | €22,400 |
Who pays what
The basic grant is paid to the association. The calculator splits it like the costs, by ownership share; how the association handles it internally is for its own resolutions, not the funding guideline. The bonus from the additional application goes to the individual owner. For flat 1 that means €21,000 of costs, €9,118 of funding in total and €11,882 left to pay.
The stacking limit applies here too: other public funds for the same work, where allowed alongside this programme at all, may not take the total above 60 % of the funded costs (guideline no. 8.6).
Heating in a single flat
Not every association has central heating. If each flat has its own gas heater, it belongs to that flat’s separate property and the owner applies alone. The building cap still applies, split equally across all flats: €14,875 per flat in an eight-flat building. An €18,000 heat pump replacing a gas flat heater brings an owner-occupier on €45,000 income €8,330. Gas flat heaters trigger the climate speed bonus whatever their age. An owner who lets the flat gets the basic grant only (grants for landlords).
KfW’s top-up loan 358 with an interest subsidy is open to owners of a flat in an association when the work concerns only their separate property. Programme 358 is not designed for the association’s central heating.
When the association should decide
Associations need time for quotes and votes, but the grant falls on a fixed calendar. On 1 February 2027 the first flat’s cap drops by €750 and the climate bonus to 12 %. For the seven-flat building the basic grant barely moves, from €33,300 to €33,075. For flat 1 the total, though, falls from €9,118 to €8,426 if all applications are made from that day.
From the first quarter of 2027 the basic grant for heat pumps is also set to drop to 15 %, with a 15 % bonus for units made in the EU. The start date is open (ministry, KfW and BAFA FAQ). Without an EU unit, flat 1 would get €5,946 with an application in April 2027. Both applications are described under how to apply, the rates as a whole under KfW 458.