Poland’s government is intensifying efforts to combat air pollution and enhance energy efficiency in households through its Warm Housing program. This initiative, an extension of the successful Clean Air program, now includes communal and small housing communities. Residents can use the funds to switch from coal-fired boilers to cleaner heating options, upgrade windows and doors, and even invest in solar panels. However, to access funding, municipalities must apply to the program. The financial support varies based on income and pollution levels, favouring those in more polluted regions. This initiative targets 163 municipalities, primarily in southern Poland’s Silesia and Ma opolska provinces.
Poland’s government is enhancing its initiative to enhance energy efficiency in households, with the goal of reducing air pollution and cutting down on household expenses. This program’s budget has been raised by 25% and now encompasses a broader range of residential properties.
The climate ministry's objective is to have this initiative replace half of the one million outdated, polluting coal-fired boilers still in use in multi-dwelling buildings by 2030. Poland faces severe air pollution issues, primarily caused by coal burning for residential heating.
The Warm Housing (Ciep?e Mieszkanie) program, introduced last year, complements the well-received Clean Air (Czyste Powetrze) program, which, over the past five years, has provided financial assistance to homeowners for heating system upgrades.
The (Czyste Powietrze) program, initiated five years ago, has been supporting homeowners in upgrading their heating systems and enhancing insulation.
Initially, the Warm Housing program had a budget of 1.4 billion zloty (€304 million). To date, the climate ministry has signed 374 contracts with municipalities, totaling over 746 million zloty in funding, which has enabled renovations in more than 33,500 housing units.
The newly announced version of this initiative will start on September 29 and run until the end of the year, with its budget now increased to 1.75 billion zloty.
While the Clean Air program focuses on single-family houses, the Warm Housing scheme is designed for buildings with multiple residences.
The latest version of the program has been expanded to encompass occupants of shared housing, including social housing, and small residential communities consisting of three to seven homes.
Funds provided by the program can be utilized to swap out outdated coal-burning boilers with cleaner energy alternatives like heat pumps, efficient gas furnaces, or pellet heaters. Additionally, it enables the connection of housing units to a more eco-friendly centralized heating system and the replacement of windows and doors with better-insulated alternatives.
Housing communities will also have the opportunity to secure financial support for the purchase and installation of solar panels. Under this updated iteration of the program, individuals can access funding of up to 43,900 zloty, while housing associations are eligible to apply for as much as 375,000 zloty in funding.
To access the funding, residents need their local municipalities to initiate the application process. The amount of financial assistance provided to individuals will depend not only on their income but also on their geographical location. Those residing in more heavily polluted areas will have the opportunity to request higher funding. The ministry has released a roster of 163 such municipalities, primarily concentrated in the southern regions of Silesia and Ma opolska in Poland.
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