CSOK Housing Support as an opportunity for sustainable development in Hungary

The Hungarian government’s plan to support the development of new housing should include measures to encourage the construction of energy-efficient homes. The following piece based on parts of an article written by Michael LaBelle and Sergi Moles Grueso at Central European University (CEU).

A price drop of 25%

The unprecedented drive to reduce utility bills for household consumers in Hungary resulted in a price drop of 25%. The aftermath of the “war on private utilities” leaves the Hungarian government dealing more closely with consumers, through the establishment of the First Public Utilities Company (ENKSZ), which took over the task of selling gas to households in Hungary from the private utilities. Now the Hungarian state needs to move from acting as a supplier of household energy services to a manger of households’ energy demand.

The CSOK programme could help build energy efficiency

The establishment of the Governement Support Family Benefit (CSOK) in Hungary provides an opportunity to build a sustainable energy system for future generations – if modern energy-efficient building practices are made a condition of qualifying for housing support under the program.

Prospective EU energy-efficient building standards for new homes

The introduction of the European Union’s new energy efficiency standards (NZeB) offers the potential to significantly reduce homeowners’ energy bills. Implementation of these standards is scheduled for the end of 2018 for public buildings and 2020 for other buildings, including residential. Failure to institute modern EU energy efficiency requirements in the projected building wave of family homes under the CSOK program will keep energy bills high and repeat the shortcomings of the “panel house” program of low-cost, high-rise housing from the communist era. Cheaper gas and electricity are hard to maintain under the Hungarian energy system. It is better to accelerate EU energy-efficient building standards for new homes qualifying for CSOK money and VAT rebates.

EU funded retrofit programs can reduce Hungary’s future gas bills

The Paks nuclear power plant heralded an era of subsidized Soviet technology, and “cheap” Soviet gas was once shipped here in exchange for Hungary building the gas supply pipeline. In 1994, MOL lost HUF 1.4 billion on Hungary’s gas import bill. In 2004, when E.ON purchased the country’s gas supply assets, the company took over HUF 150 bln in debt. In 2013, when the Hungarian state – through MVM and the Hungarian Development Bank – “bought” back the assets and debt, they held a negative net worth of as much as HUF 355 bln. Now the decommissioning fund for Paks will likely be tapped to subsidize electricity consumption. New EU building standards and EU funded retrofit programs hold the potential to truly reduce Hungary’s future gas bills.

(Source: http://bbj.hu/opinion/csok-housing-support-could-help-build-energy-efficiency_111856)