KfW Subsidy Finder 2026: Which German grant fits your project?

Anyone building, buying or renovating in 2026 quickly runs into a thicket of programme numbers. KfW 458, KfW 261, KfW 300, the BAFA individual measures, plus the tax bonus under § 35c EStG. It gets confusing mainly because several bodies are responsible and the terms change almost every year. The funding finder maps your project to the matching programmes so you do not have to read every guideline yourself.

The overview below shows the main 2026 programmes, each with the type of funding, the target group and the maximum amount. One thing first: there is no legal entitlement to any of these grants, the budgets are limited, and the application must always be submitted before the project starts.

Funding programmes change constantly, often every year. Four points matter for 2026. First, the family programmes KfW 300 and KfW 308 received lower interest rates in late 2025. Second, for Young buys old (KfW 308) the renovation standard was eased to efficiency house 85 EE, which makes the renovation obligation a bit easier to reach.

Third, the maximum loan amounts for KfW 308 are set to rise on 3 August 2026, from €100,000 / €125,000 / €150,000 to €140,000 / €160,000 / €180,000 depending on the number of children. Until then the current values apply. The transitional EH-55 variant in the climate-friendly new build ends by 31 December 2026 at the latest, earlier if the budget is exhausted.

Fourth, a new funding guideline for individual measures (BEG EM) has applied since 21 July 2026. For the KfW 458 heating grant this means the climate-speed bonus is now 16% and falls by 4 percentage points every six months from 1 February 2027. For applications from 1 August 2028 it disappears completely. The income bonus is now tiered, the efficiency bonus and the emission-reduction supplement have been scrapped, and eligible costs are €28,000 for the first residential unit.

The KfW 458 and BAFA rates in the finder follow the funding guideline of 17 August 2026 and the KfW 458 information sheet (as of 09/2026). The other programmes reflect the June 2026 status. Conditions can change at short notice, so it always pays to check the official KfW and BAFA pages before you apply.

Responsibility is split. KfW provides the subsidised loans for new builds, purchases and full renovations, plus the heating-swap grant (458). BAFA is responsible for the individual measures on the building envelope and the building services, such as insulation, windows or heating optimisation.

The difference between the funding types matters. A grant (KfW 458, BAFA EM) is money you do not repay. A subsidised loan (KfW 124, 297/298, 300, 308) is a low-interest loan via your bank; the benefit is the low rate. With a repayment subsidy (KfW 261) part of the loan is waived, so you repay less than you borrowed. The tax bonus under § 35c directly reduces your income tax.

The application route also differs: the heating grant goes through the KfW online portal, the subsidised loans go through your bank or a financing partner, the BAFA individual measures through the BAFA portal and the tax bonus through your tax return.

The KfW 458 heating grant consists of a 30% base rate and two bonuses that only owner-occupiers get for their own unit. The climate-speed bonus applies if you replace a working oil, coal, gas storey or night-storage heating, or a gas or biomass heating that is at least 20 years old. It is 16% for applications until 31 January 2027, then 12%, 8% and 4% in six-month steps, and it ends for applications from 1 August 2028. The application date counts, not the installation date.

The income bonus depends on the taxable household income: 40% up to €30,000, 30% up to €40,000 and 10% up to €50,000. If at least one child under 18 lives in the household, income counts a flat €10,000 lower (family supplement). The total rate is capped at 70%, or at 80% for an assessed income up to €30,000. Eligible costs are at most €28,000 for the first unit, so up to €22,400 in grant. This ceiling falls by €750 every six months from 1 February 2027. Each further unit adds €15,000, from the seventh unit €8,000. With lower costs the grant is proportionally smaller.

More changes follow from the first quarter of 2027. Heat pumps then get only a 15% base rate, plus a value-added bonus (Wertschöpfungs-Bonus) of 15 percentage points if they originate in the EU. There is also no more funding if the building already has a renewable heating from 2008 or later, or is connected to a heating network. The efficiency bonus and the biomass emission-reduction supplement have been scrapped. Landlords get the base rate only. Applications filed before 21 July 2026 run under the old conditions.

Not sure of your building's energy class? Estimate it first with the energy efficiency quick check, which helps with the renovation priority.

Anyone renovating their home comprehensively to an efficiency house level uses the KfW 261 subsidised loan. It runs up to €120,000 per residential unit, or up to €150,000 with the renewable energy class (at least 65% renewables) or the sustainability class. The real benefit is the repayment subsidy: depending on the efficiency house level, part of the loan is waived, from 5% at efficiency house 85 to 20% at efficiency house 40.

On top come bonuses: the EE or NH class adds 5 percentage points, the Worst Performing Building bonus 10 points, and a serial renovation another 15. The repayment subsidy is capped at 45%, so up to €67,500 on €150,000 of eligible costs. The WPB bonus is only available for energy class H or for a building built in 1957 or earlier with a mostly unrenovated exterior wall, that is at least 75% of the wall area. Classes F and G do not qualify on the class alone.

An energy efficiency expert is mandatory for KfW 261. A heating swap within the full renovation can be funded additionally via KfW 458 and combined with KfW 261. You can model the monthly payment for the own contribution or the subsidised loan with the mortgage repayment calculator.

If you do not renovate the whole house at once but carry out individual measures, you apply for the BAFA grant for individual measures (BEG EM). The rate is 15%. Eligible measures include insulation, windows and exterior doors, building services and heating optimisation.

Eligible costs are up to €30,000 per residential unit and year. With an individual renovation roadmap (iSFP) the ceiling rises to €60,000, and the part of the costs above €30,000 gets 5 percentage points more. This requires at least €30,000 of eligible costs. With €50,000 of costs and an iSFP that means an €8,500 grant, without an iSFP €4,500. From the first quarter of 2027, insulation on particularly inefficient buildings (worst performing buildings) gets another 5 percentage points. The roadmap itself is subsidised through the BAFA energy consultation. To estimate roughly what the measures cost, use the renovation cost calculator first.

Families with at least one child under 18 get especially favourable subsidised loans. KfW 300 (home ownership for families) applies to building or first-buying a new residential building as an efficiency house 40. The condition is a taxable household income up to €90,000, plus €10,000 per additional child. The loan size is graded by the number of children and the QNG certificate: 1 to 2 children up to €170,000 (with QNG €220,000), 3 to 4 children up to €200,000 (with QNG €250,000), 5 or more children up to €220,000 (with QNG €270,000).

Important: there is no extra per-child loan increment. The €10,000 per additional child only raises the income limit, not the loan. So a check can be worthwhile even with a higher income once several children live in the household.

KfW 308 (Young buys old) targets families buying a renovation-needy existing building and renovating it to efficiency house 85 EE within 54 months. The maximum loan amounts are currently €100,000 / €125,000 / €150,000 (1 / 2 / 3+ children); from 3 August 2026 they are set to rise to €140,000 / €160,000 / €180,000. To check how much home you can afford with a subsidised loan, use the home affordability calculator.

Anyone building or buying without a family-programme entitlement uses the climate-friendly new build KfW 297/298. It applies to new builds and first purchases as an efficiency house 40 without oil, gas or biomass. The subsidised loan runs up to €100,000 per residential unit, or up to €150,000 with the QNG certificate. The transitional EH-55 variant (maximum €100,000 per unit) ends by 31 December 2026 at the latest, earlier if the budget is exhausted.

The KfW 124 home ownership programme funds owner-occupied housing with up to €100,000 and no energy requirements, at a discounted rate close to the market. With these pure subsidised loans, the benefit lies in the interest rate. The figure shown is the loan size, not a gift.

Instead of a grant, you can also claim an energy renovation on your taxes. Under § 35c EStG, 20% of the renovation costs are deductible over three years, split into 7%, 7% and 6%. Eligible expenses are up to €200,000 per property, which gives a maximum tax reduction of €40,000 (up to €14,000 each in the first and second year, up to €12,000 in the third).

The condition is that you live in the property yourself, the building is older than ten years when the measure begins, and the work is carried out by a specialist firm with a specialist company certificate. The tax route cannot be combined with KfW or BAFA funding for the same measure; it is an either-or decision. § 35c is often more favourable than the grant when your tax rate is high and you have no claim to the income bonus.

Several grants can be combined as long as they cover different measures. The KfW 458 heating-swap grant and the BAFA individual measures can be combined, because one covers the heating and the other the building envelope. Since 2024, the KfW 458 heating grant can also be combined with the KfW 261 building loan.

For the same costs, by contrast, there is only one application, either KfW or BAFA. Combining with other public funding is possible up to a maximum of 60% of eligible costs. You can finance the remaining own contribution after a grant approval via the KfW 358/359 supplementary loan (up to €120,000). With the income bonus, KfW 359 adds another 5 to 10% repayment subsidy. The § 35c tax bonus rules out KfW or BAFA funding for the same measure.

The application-first principle applies: the funding must always be applied for before commissioning work or signing a contract. Anyone who first hires a tradesperson or signs the purchase contract and only then applies loses the entitlement. For the family programmes KfW 300 and 308, the application must precede the purchase contract.

For KfW 261 and the new-build programmes, an energy efficiency expert is required by law. Note also that there is no legal entitlement and the funds can run short during the year, for example with the EH-55 transitional variant. The typical order is: energy consultation or iSFP, application, approval, implementation and finally the proof of use.

The most expensive mistakes happen early. Anyone who commissions the measure before applying loses the funding entirely. Confused programme numbers or the wrong application office also lead to rejections. Have your income proof ready early, that is the tax assessments for the relevant years.

A second classic is assumed bonuses that do not apply in your case. The climate-speed bonus requires a working old heating, the WPB bonus class H or a building built in 1957 or earlier. And anyone who starts without a renovation roadmap forgoes the iSFP bonus. The funding finder only counts the bonuses when you confirm the respective conditions.

First choose your project, then enter how the property is used, the number of children and your income, and optionally the estimated investment or measure costs. Depending on the project, a few detail questions follow, for example about the condition of the old heating or the efficiency house level. The result is a ranked shortlist with the estimated maximum funding, the application links and notes on combinability.

The cost entry is optional but useful. Without costs, the finder shows the theoretical maximum, which is only reached if costs hit the funding ceiling. With costs, the funding is scaled realistically to your amount. The headline funding always matches the top-ranked programme.

You can download your personal funding shortlist as a PDF. For the next steps, the energy efficiency quick check helps with the energy class, the mortgage repayment calculator with the own contribution and the home affordability calculator with the overall financing.