On January 8, the Narva College of the University of Tartu hosted a “Renovation Fair”, which was attended by local chairmen of apartment associations. Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Svet, who spoke at the opening, said that over a couple of years, subsidies for housing renovation amounting to 35 million euros have been allocated under various support programs for Ida-Viru County.
“I will take the liberty of saying that in Ida-Viru County the situation is twice as bad as in other places,” said Vladimir Svet.
Fresh heating bills encourage people to insulate themselves, but on the other hand, they leave people with less free money. And even with generous subsidies for Ida-Virumaa (in some cases up to 80% of the cost of renovation), the chairmen of the CT are asking to subsidize not a complete renovation, but a cheaper and less effective partial renovation.
“Our goal is complete renovation, but we want to create a fund that will subsidize partial renovation. The main thing is that the house does not stop – if they have renovated the heating system, then the next stage will continue to build the roof and so on,” said Svet.
Outskirts – in a privileged position
According to the minister, he is often criticized due to the fact that money for renovation goes to the periphery, not only in Ida-Viru County, but also, for example, in Valga County. He noted that it is in the outskirts that renovation is progressing the hardest, although the percentage of the cost that the subsidy covers is higher there than in Tallinn.
We don’t know our budget prospects. I recommend not to wait, but to take money now.
Vladimir Svet
minister of infrastructure
For three years, 300 million euros will be allocated as subsidies for renovation throughout Estonia, Svet said. The first 70-80 million of this amount will be available for CT in May. The rest will be in 2026 and 2027.
“But we don’t know our budgetary prospects. I recommend not to wait, but to take money now,” said Svet.
Part of the funds went and will go separately to Ida-Virumaa under various programs. Last year, a support measure of 10 million euros was opened for the North-East, which has already been effectively exhausted. A further €15 million has been allocated from the Just Transition Fund and is already booked. A nationwide tour started in October with a total budget of 185 million euros, of which an additional 10 million is available for Ida-Viru County, and there is also separate money for the renovation of buildings with more than 100 apartments, some of which can also be claimed by local CTs.
Svet notes that it is important to inform people as much as possible. According to him, in the future it is planned to assign a specialist to each house who will supervise the renovation. EIS consultant Lyudmila Peussa, who participates in Ida-Virus CT meetings where she talks about subsidies, believes that thanks to this constant work, more associations decide to start at least partial renovation.
For old panels – panel insulation
The renovation fair in Narva was organized by EIS (a joint institution of EAS and KredEx), the Estonian CT Union and other partners. On the stage, the chairmen of the CT, a lawyer and builders shared their experience, and in the foyer, representatives of several specialized firms and organizations offered their services.
Among other things, they said that it became possible to use factory renovation technology, the prospects of which experts spoke about several years ago. Martin Talts, head of the KMT Prefab company and chairman of the Estonian Wooden House Construction Union, spoke in detail to DV about how this works.
First, a 3D laser scan of the house is performed. Then ready-made external overlay panels are designed for this particular building. Each panel is a frame made of timber with an external decorative coating and insulation inside. The panel already contains an energy-saving window and pipe sections for a new ventilation system with recovery, which is mandatory for a complete renovation of a house.
When working, there is no need to install scaffolding, as with classical technology. Workers install the panels using a lift, and the main load from them is transferred to the base of the house (therefore it is important to take into account its condition). When the outside wall is ready, from the inside of the apartment you only need to dismantle the old window and make new slopes.
Talking to a TV correspondent, Talts points out the window at a small four-story Khrushchev building:
“For such a house, the entire installation of elements will take about ten days, and on the outside everything is almost ready, already with windows, already with ventilation,” he said.
In Estonia, more than twenty apartment buildings have been renovated using this method, said Martin Talts. Factory renovation is approximately 10% more expensive than traditional insulation. However, when using it, the size of the state subsidy increases, and a complete renovation of a house in this way may turn out to be even cheaper than the classic one.
There are many standard Soviet-era houses in Estonia, which makes it possible to mass-produce insulated elements and, in the future, reduce the price. Now, Talts said, five companies in the country produce ready-made insulation panels. The technology is in many ways similar to that which is often used in the construction of one-story frame houses.
“My company has made about ten houses in Estonia and the same number in Germany. There are companies that have only built one house so far,” Talts said. According to EIS consultant Lyudmila Peussa, the first house renovation in Ida-Viru County using this technology is currently being prepared in Sillamäe.
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Source: www.dv.ee
