Grant for energy renovation of multifamily buildings in rural Poland – Modernisation Fund 2026

The programme has been approved, but the call for applications is not yet open. According to the schedule of Poland’s National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) as of 3 September 2026, the call is planned to start in the third quarter of 2026. Applications are to be accepted on a continuous basis by the competent Voivodeship Funds for Environmental Protection and Water Management (WFOŚiGW). The key caveat is that this is not a programme for every apartment building located in a rural area. A building must meet specific criteria relating, among other things, to its age, ownership structure and historical connection with the former state agricultural sector.

Current programme status – 3 September 2026

In practice, this means that the building and assessment data can already be prepared, but the final list of attachments should not yet be declared and the January consultation documents should not be treated as the final application documentation.

What is this programme and what is its current status?

The Polish programme “Improving the energy efficiency of multifamily residential buildings in rural areas” is to be financed from the Modernisation Fund. NFOŚiGW has approved the priority programme and its current schedule indicates a launch in the third quarter of 2026. At the same time, the programme page explicitly states that the remaining documentation required to launch the call for applications will be published in a subsequent announcement.

This distinction is important: the programme has been approved, but the call for applications is still planned. As of 3 September 2026, a housing community, property manager or municipality cannot yet submit an application under this call.

The programme should also not be confused with Poland’s Thermomodernisation and Renovation Fund or with regional pilot schemes for buildings in former PGR areas. These are separate instruments with their own rules and documentation.

Which buildings are eligible for support?

The greatest risk of misinterpretation concerns the phrase “in rural areas” itself. The published information on the approved programme shows that being located in a rural municipality alone is not sufficient. A building should meet three groups of criteria simultaneously.

For project preparation, this means that the first filter should be verification of the building’s history. If the property does not meet the programme criteria, even a well-prepared energy audit will not make it eligible under this particular call.

Who can benefit from the programme?

The structure of this Polish programme differs from many grant schemes in which the building owner applies directly to the funding institution. Under the approved programme:

• the programme beneficiaries are the WFOŚiGW,
• the final beneficiaries are local government units (JST) implementing investments in their areas,
• the programme also provides for investments to be implemented through support for housing communities – both formal and informal.

The programme does not mean “a 100% grant for every housing community”. A housing community is an important participant in the project, but the published programme structure assumes that support will flow through the competent WFOŚiGW and the local government unit (JST). The detailed procedure for submitting documents, the responsibilities of the parties and the required resolutions or declarations will need to be verified once the call rules are published.

How much is the grant?

NFOŚiGW indicates a grant of up to 100% of eligible costs. The words “up to” are crucial here. They do not automatically mean that every project will receive funding for the entire investment budget. It is first necessary to determine which expenditures are eligible, whether they fall within the scope of the call and whether the project as a whole meets the programme conditions.

In addition, the programme introduces a unit cap: the maximum eligible cost may not exceed PLN 2,000 for each m² of floor area with regulated air temperature.

What does the PLN 2,000/m² cap mean?

For example, if a building has 2,400 m² of floor area with regulated air temperature, the cap on eligible costs resulting from this limit is:

2,400 m² × PLN 2,000/m² = PLN 4,800,000

This does not mean that the investment will automatically receive a PLN 4.8 million grant. It is the upper ceiling resulting from the unit cap for the assumed floor area. The actual amount of eligible costs will depend on the scope of works, the application documentation, project assessment and the rules applied by the competent fund.

Which investments can be financed?

The approved programme identifies a broad range of measures that improve building energy efficiency. In particular, it includes:

• energy renovation of the building,
• replacement or modernisation of the heat source, excluding sources using fossil fuels,
• installation of renewable energy sources,
• modernisation of heating, domestic hot water and ventilation systems,
• implementation of BMS/EMS energy management systems,
• accompanying measures resulting from the energy audit.

The full and final list of eligible costs should only be checked in the documentation for the relevant call. Consultation materials were published in January, but they should not be treated as the final rules applicable to the call planned for 2026.

What role does the ex-ante energy audit play?

In this programme, the audit is not an add-on to a completed project concept. NFOŚiGW explicitly states that the investment must follow from an ex-ante energy audit. This means that before implementation, the building condition, its systems and energy use must be assessed, and then the set of measures that delivers the required result must be identified.

In practice, a well-prepared building energy audit should provide the basis for comparing modernisation options and justifying the investment scope. The objective is not to adapt calculations to a pre-selected list of works, but to demonstrate which measures are required and what energy performance they deliver.

As of 3 September 2026, the full application documentation had not yet been published. The requirement for an ex-ante energy audit can therefore be confirmed, but the final document template, all required attachments and the detailed assessment method used by individual WFOŚiGW should not yet be assumed.

What does the required 30% reduction in primary energy mean?

The programme requires the investment to deliver at least a 30% reduction in primary energy (EP). This is not the same as a 30% lower heating bill, and the two values should not be used interchangeably.

Primary energy is an energy performance indicator, whereas the bill also depends, among other things, on energy prices, tariffs, how the building is used and weather conditions. A project may therefore achieve the required EP result while the percentage change in operating costs is different.

The 30% threshold should not be entered in the audit as an assumed result. The audit should establish the baseline and demonstrate whether the analysed package of works actually achieves at least the required level of reduction.

Why should the modernisation scope follow from the audit?

A common mistake when preparing an investment is to decide in advance: “we will insulate the walls, replace the windows and install photovoltaics”, and only then ask the auditor to confirm that scope. In a programme based on a measurable energy performance result, the order should be reversed.

The audit may show that insulation of the building envelope alone is not sufficient to achieve a 30% reduction in EP, or that a greater result will come from combining several measures: improving the envelope, balancing and regulating systems, modernising the heat source, ventilation or renewables. It may also show that some of the works initially planned have little impact on the required result.

That is why the investment scope should be the consequence of the analysis, not a list of works prepared before the audit. If a broader explanation of the differences between the documents is needed, the material explaining how a building energy audit is carried out may also be useful.

What data and documents should be prepared before the audit?

The full list of attachments for the call is not yet known, but some data can usefully be collected in advance. It is advisable to separate the documents needed for initial confirmation of building eligibility from the technical materials required by the auditor.

For verification of building eligibility

• documents confirming the year of construction and the date the building was placed in service,
• information on the number of separate units and the ownership structure,
• documents or archival data confirming ownership or control of the building before 1 January 1992,
• information confirming the connection of the building and the area with former State Agricultural Farms (PGRs) or other agricultural entities specified in the programme,
• basic details of the housing community and property manager, and contact details for the competent local government unit (JST).

For the energy audit

• floor plans, sections and available technical documentation of the building,
• floor areas, volumes and the use of individual parts of the building,
• information on walls, roofs, ceilings, windows and doors, as well as previous modernisation works,
• data on the heat source, heating, domestic hot water and ventilation systems,
• data on renewable energy sources and controls, if installed,
• invoices or summaries of energy and fuel consumption for as representative a period as possible,
• information on operating problems, such as insufficient heating in some units, overheating, uneven system operation or frequent failures.

Missing some of the materials does not always prevent work from starting, but the earlier they are organised, the lower the risk of delays once the call opens.

What can a local government unit or property manager do before the call opens?

1. Check the three basic building criteria. Start with age, ownership structure, location and the historical connection with the agricultural sector.
2. Identify the competent WFOŚiGW and involve the local government unit (JST). The programme assumes that applications will be handled by the territorially competent funds, while the final beneficiary is the JST.
3. Collect historical documents. For buildings in former PGR areas, this part may be more difficult than gathering current technical documentation.
4. Prepare data for the audit. An inventory of the available documentation, bills and the condition of the building systems can already be made.
5. Start the energy analysis, but be cautious about the final document format. The detailed requirements of the call should be compared with the audit once the rules and attachments are published.
6. Do not define the scope of works in advance. A preliminary budget is needed, but the final modernisation package should result from the calculations.
7. Monitor NFOŚiGW and the competent WFOŚiGW. Once the call opens, verify the dates, rules, eligible-cost catalogue, document templates and list of attachments.

If the project is to be prepared more broadly – from the audit through to financing documentation – it is worth linking the technical work from the outset with financing for energy modernisation. This reduces the risk that a technically sound solution will later fail to meet the requirements of the specific funding source.

The most common mistakes when preparing an investment

• Assuming that every apartment building in a rural area is eligible. The programme includes additional historical, ownership and functional criteria.
• Treating the housing community as a direct applicant to NFOŚiGW. The approved programme structure identifies WFOŚiGW as the beneficiaries and local government units (JST) as the final beneficiaries.
• Reading “up to 100%” as a guarantee of full funding. Eligible costs and compliance with all conditions must be established first.
• Confusing the PLN 2,000/m² cap with the price of the entire investment. It is a unit cap on eligible costs applied to the floor area with regulated air temperature.
• Treating the 30% EP reduction as a figure to be entered in the documentation. It is a result that must be demonstrated by the audit for the specific modernisation scope.
• Preparing the list of works before the energy analysis. Such a package may fail to achieve the required result or may be suboptimal.
• Planning a fossil-fuel heat source. The programme excludes financing for the installation or modernisation of such sources.
• Using consultation documents as if they were the final rules of the call. NFOŚiGW has announced a separate publication of the documentation that will launch the call.
• Mixing the national Polish programme with regional pilots or other instruments. The conditions of similarly named programmes do not have to be identical.

How to prepare for the call step by step

The safest sequence is: initial building eligibility check → collection of historical and technical data → energy audit → selection of the modernisation option → budget → verification of the call documentation → preparation of the application by the competent entity.

If the building passes the initial eligibility check, the audit should answer the key question: what realistic package of measures will achieve the required energy performance result. Only on that basis should the investment scope and cost estimate be finalised.

Energy Trend carries out building energy audits for property managers, institutions and entities preparing modernisation projects and their financing. For this Polish programme, final compliance of the documentation must always be checked once the rules for the relevant call are published.

Sources and information status

• NFOŚiGW – approved Polish programme “Improving the energy efficiency of multifamily residential buildings in rural areas”
• NFOŚiGW – call schedule
• Modernisation Fund – list of programmes financed from the Modernisation Fund
• WFOŚiGW in Kraków – information on building eligibility criteria

Information status: 3 September 2026.