Stacking subsidies: combining SVOH with municipal schemes

National and local side by side

Alongside the national SVOH, administered by RVO, municipalities and provinces sometimes have their own incentive schemes for making the housing stock more sustainable, for example in the form of a low-interest loan or a local subsidy pot. The conditions of such schemes differ greatly per municipality and can change annually.

A comparable example of combination rules within the national system can be seen with the SVVE: VvE members in the province of Groningen or in Aa en Hunze, Noordenveld and Tynaarlo can, under conditions, combine the SVVE insulation subsidy with Measure 29 of the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (Northern Netherlands Partnership), provided the SVVE is applied for first.

How to approach this carefully

Check with your municipality whether there is a current local sustainability scheme and whether it can be combined with the SVOH. Pay attention to the order of applications: with some schemes, as with the SVVE combination mentioned above, you must first apply for the national subsidy before you qualify for the local top-up.

Also take state aid rules into account: subsidies for the same costs may be subject to a joint maximum. If in doubt, have this assessed by the implementing bodies themselves, so you do not have to repay part of the subsidy afterwards.

• Check per municipality whether a local sustainability scheme exists alongside the national SVOH.
• Pay attention to the required application order for combination schemes.
• Check in advance with the implementing bodies whether stacking is permitted within the state aid rules.