As of Aug. 7, the Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWK) is reducing the funding rates for energy consulting programs in residential buildings from the previous 80 percent to 50 percent of the eligible consulting fee. In addition, the maximum subsidy per consultation is to be reduced by 50 percent, the ministry announced on Monday. For detached and semi-detached houses, it will therefore be a maximum of 650€ in the future. The reason for the reduction is the high demand: in the first half of 2024, there was a new high of 80,000 applications for energy consultations in residential buildings; in 2019, there were only around 10,000 applications.