How long to receive french renovation grants - and why it is getting longer

PROTESTORS ACCUSE THE SCHEME OF ‘MALFUNCTIONING’, BUT THE MANAGING AUTHORITY DISPUTES THIS Processing and payment times for home renovation funding applications are getting longer in France,

prompting a group of frustrated applicants to mount a protest against the delays in payments last week. The group protested outside the offices of the Agence nationale de l’habitat (ANAH),

which manages the MaPrimeRénov' payment scheme, on May 12.  MaPrimeRénov' is a government-funded financial aid scheme that helps property owners to apply for funding to pay for

energy renovations to improve the energy consumption of their property. Read also: MaPrimeRenov: How to claim grant for energy upgrades in French home Thierry Flak, of the

Ile-de-France-based company Home Expert Habitat, has been among those to call for a “national protest” against what he calls the “dysfunctions” of the scheme. He has also started a petition 

called ‘Sauver la rénovation énergétique : exigeons des réponses de l’ANAH et du Gouvernement !' (Save energy renovation: demand answers from ANAH and the government!'). So far, 77

people have signed. Mr Flak has claimed that the “malfunctioning of MaPrimeRenov’ (is causing) “an unprecedented crisis…particularly in large-scale renovation projects”, and is calling for

guaranteed payment deadlines, with compensation in the event of delays. Petition signatories have said that they have suffered from: * No news about their assistance * Applications being

blocked or withdrawn “arbitrarily” (they claim) * Delays in processing and payment delays of several months, or even more than a year * Repeated requests for supporting documents * Lack of

contact with staff * No right of appeal They are also calling for independent audit of grant withdrawals when they happen, and a “transparent” right to appeal process. AVERAGE PROCESSING AND

PAYMENT TIMES Despite the protests, ANAH told Capital that the average processing time for MaPrimeRénov' applications is:  The average time taken to pay MaPrimeRénov‘ after the work

has been completed, is: Read also: French grants covered 30% costs to replace my old oil-fired boiler Read more: Do we have to pay back eco grants when we sell our French home?  LONGER TIMES

HELP FIGHT FRAUD, SAYS ANAH  ANAH has denied the “malfunctioning of the scheme”. It acknowledged that current processing times are “indeed longer since the beginning of the year”, but said

these were legitimate, due to: * A “high volume of applications for major renovation projects” * The late adoption of the finance law (delayed by last year’s vote of no confidence in the

Barnier government) * Necessary extra checks (such as anti-fraud checks) on the companies carrying out the work. The authority said that it “disputes certain figures reported by the media”,

and said that enhanced checking procedures are not designed to be punitive or to deliberately prolong the process, but to “give each party the opportunity to prove their good faith”. ANAH is

increasingly withdrawing MaPrimeRénov payments “in whole or in part’” following these enhanced checks, it said, as part of measures taken to reduce fraud. Read more: High level of fraud

hits French government energy scheme  Read also: Tips to avoid home renovation scams in France  Fraudulent applications have become such an issue in recent years that the government has

repeatedly said it is considering scrapping the scheme altogether.