When you think about renovating your home to make it more energy-efficient, the question of money and credit score immediately comes to mind because the budget can quickly get out of control. The main energy renovation projects involve:
insulating the house: roof, outside walls, joinery, etc.;
installing renewable energy: solar panels, heat pumps, etc.;
improving the heating system: boiler, radiators, etc.
How do you calculate an energy retrofit budget? It is complex - if not impossible - to try to come up with a standard average cost for insulating a house through a renovation project. This is because numerous factors come into play, such as the type of work and building (its age, condition, surface area, location... all of which will influence the amount of work required).
Renovating your home and insulating it better will improve its energy efficiency. Renovation work of this kind aims to improve the energy performance of your home. Experts agree that improving this performance by one letter in your energy performance certificate is expensive and estimate that doing this would cost around €300/letter/m². This figure should be treated with caution, however, as all the factors mentioned above influence the cost of the renovation work.
Good to know!
A renovated house with better insulation and, therefore, a better energy performance certificate is likely to have a higher sale value.
This long-term investment accounts for a significant budget. That's why Belgians are often looking for the best home improvement loan, such as a personal loan or an unsecured loan, to renovate and insulate their homes.
That is exactly why we offer secured loans like energy loans, where at least 75% of the funds applied are earmarked for energy-saving purposes (insulation, photovoltaic panels, etc.).
In Belgium, the different levels of government offer incentives for energy retrofits in the form of grants or 0% interest loans. This public financial support is available at federal, regional, and sometimes even provincial or municipal levels.
These grants are subject to strict criteria linked to your situation:
income level
age of the property
use made of the property
type of work to be carried out
credit score
whether or not a preliminary audit has been carried out
etc.
In Brussels, the Ecoreno loan offers an interest rate of 1.5% or 2.5%, depending on your income, for secured loans of between €1,500 and €25,000. There are many other grants available that fund home improvements, and they vary from one local authority to another.
In Wallonia, the Rénopack scheme helps finance work on the basis of an energy audit (valid for a house that is at least 15 years old). The grants vary, depending on whether you have had an energy audit carried out or not. The scheme also offers other options like unsecured personal loans at fair interest rates.
In Flanders, the Mijn Verbouwlening loan scheme currently offers an interest rate of 2.75%. But in spring 2025, the rate will be made equal to the legal rate (5.75% in March 2024). To qualify, you need to be below a certain income ceiling, the property must be for residential use, and the age of the building, type, and cost of the work are also taken into account. The Mijn VerbouwPremie grant also offers several options, such as home equity loans and personal loans.
Although there is a great deal of public aid available, they are subject to strict conditions that everyone cannot always meet. What's more, these incentives do not exclude the possibility of taking out unsecured personal loans to finance your energy renovation work. So, it's worth considering secured home improvement loans or an unsecured home improvement loan for your insulation work.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Which home improvement loans should you choose for an energy retrofit project involving home insulation?"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Alongside public aid for energy retrofits, which are subject to certain restrictions, credit institutions offer energy loans such as home equity loans with less stringent conditions.
An energy loan is a secured loan for home insulation at a more attractive interest rate than traditional renovation loans or unsecured loans. To qualify for this attractive rate, at least 75% of the funds applied must be given over to energy-saving renovation work.
To finance the insulation of your home, home improvement loans of this kind are, therefore:
advantageous in terms of the borrowing cost;
less restrictive than public aid in terms of access;
can be combined with public aid if you are eligible for them.
The ING Energy Loan, for example, is an attractive financing option with reasonable monthly repayments or monthly mortgage repayments for your insulation work.
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Also consider!"},{"componentType":"cards","cards":[{"componentType":"productCard","cardType":"product","cardSize":"small","title":"How to finance home insulation work in Belgium","intro":"Efficient insulation = energy savings!","image":{"transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/8e3219fe-4794-4679-887c-2cf006ebd8a2/Happy-woman-holding-tools-and-making-a-peace-sign-in-a-kitchen","type":"image","width":7200,"original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/cb6f6663d482bfc/original/Happy-woman-holding-tools-and-making-a-peace-sign-in-a-kitchen.JPG","extension":"jpg"},"link":{"url":"/en/individuals/borrowing/home/financing-home-insulation"}},{"componentType":"productCard","cardType":"product","cardSize":"small","title":"Energy loan for renovations","intro":"Reduced-rate installment loan when at least 75% of your renovation are aimed at saving energy.","image":{"transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/a8e158f4-4dcd-48b3-8e6d-964f0c4c0f66/A-smiling-young-woman-stands-on-a-ladder-beneath-the-doorframe-holding-out-blue-cables-to-the-camera","type":"image","width":8268,"original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/6cae176aa2d05bb0/original/A-smiling-young-woman-stands-on-a-ladder-beneath-the-doorframe-holding-out-blue-cables-to-the-camera.jpg","extension":"jpg"},"link":{"url":"/en/individuals/borrowing/energy-loan-renovation"}},{"componentType":"articleCard","cardType":"article","cardSize":"medium","title":"Renovating your house ecologically","body":"Would you like to help the environment and your wallet at the same time? Find out how.","image":{"transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/edf136b7-aef8-4537-a162-0d693c761b47/ecological-renovation-1920","type":"image","width":1920,"original":"https://assets.ing.com/m/4a799e95fea19d92/original/ecological-renovation-1920.jpg","extension":"jpg"},"date":"2024-03-27","link":{"url":"/en/individuals/my-life/housing/ecological-renovation-steps"}}]}]},"legalZone":{"flexComponents":[{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Legal Notes"},{"componentType":"paragraph","title":"Legal information related to advertising on this product","richBody":{"value":"The amount that you are likely to be able to borrow, as stated in the advertising message, is communicated for information purposes only. Neither the granting of the loan nor the aforementioned amount are guaranteed by ING Belgium. To determine the amount thus simulated, we took into account a set of data currently known to ING, in particular: your financial situation (i.e. your income and any extra-legal benefits as well as your expenses on your ING accounts as well as your savings, loans and investments with ING), your personal and family situation known to ING (in particular, your age, your personal status, your dependents) and the fact of exercise an independent activity. On the other hand, it is not required to provide the following information (which will be requested and/or verified in the event of a credit application on your part), in particular: your professional situation, the type of residence you occupy, other expenses or income not known to ING or futures, your savings and investments with ING, as well as credit data with third parties consulted with the National Bank of Belgium.
This advertising message, which concerns an installment loan for private purposes subject to consumer credit legislation, does not constitute an offer of credit. It is intended exclusively for natural persons of legal age and any request for credit is made subject to prior acceptance of your file by ING Belgium and mutual agreement. The general conditions and rates for this loan are available from all ING branches and can be consulted on www.ing.be (section 'Rates and regulations'). Your request and the possible approval of your request by ING (after examination of your file by ING) in a branch or through the 'Consumer Loans Online' service on www.ing.be, do not commit either ING or yourself, as long as you have not signed a credit agreement at your ING branch or, in the case of an online request, as long as you have not returned the signed credit agreement (after prior approval of your file by ING) to ING, where it is checked beforehand whether the data provided in the request are accurate and complete (among other things, on the basis of the documents submitted or to be submitted).
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