How familiar and important are the topics of sustainability and renovation in the building sector to Austrians? Raiffeisen Bausparkasse and the market research institute Spectra have investigated this question for the second time since 2021.
76 percent of those surveyed can relate to the term “sustainable building and living”, which is an increase of two percentage points. The term is primarily associated with energy-efficient systems (unchanged 83 percent), the use of ecological building materials (78 percent; minus six percentage points) and resource-saving construction (unchanged 71 percent).
72 percent of people would prefer refurbishment or renovation to a new building (plus three percentage points).
58 percent of those surveyed can imagine making personal cuts when it comes to living for reasons of sustainability and climate protection (plus two percentage points). Specifically, one thinks of living in a smaller living space (unchanged 30 percent) or of maintaining or creating green spaces (19 percent; minus two percentage points).
51 percent believe that subsidies should be increased (up one percentage point). For eleven percent, the subsidies are high enough (plus two percentage points).
Loan of 98,000 euros
“These study results are underlined by the fact that more and more financing for renovation and refurbishment or conversion and extension is being requested,” says Christian Vallant, Managing Director of Raiffeisen Bausparkasse: “The proportion of financing granted by us was here from 2019 to 2021 unchanged in the lower single-digit percentage range, they have more than doubled in 2022.”
The proportion of financing granted was 10.5 percent for extensions and conversions, and 13.7 percent for refurbishment and renovation.
The increase is also reflected in the amount of money awarded. The average loan amount for refurbishment and renovation rose to EUR 98,000 (2021: EUR 73,000), that for conversions and extensions to EUR 173,000 (2021: EUR 145,000).
