Grants to replace windows in 2026: what is open and whether you qualify

Last checked: 22 October 2026. I read official pages from the Fundo Ambiental (the Environmental Fund), the Government portal, the Diário da República, the energy regulator ERSE and the tax authority, listed at the end. Grants change fast, so always confirm before you buy.

Quick answer. Today there is no application open to all private owners to pay for windows. Three things are worth checking: (1) whether you applied to the Vale Eficiência by 31 October 2024, because the Government said those families would be contacted from 15 October 2026; (2) the Banco Português de Fomento loan, which has not opened yet but must open by 12 December 2026; (3) your town hall’s programme. The discount that exists for everyone is on VAT, and only under certain conditions.

Use the quiz above to see what may be for you. “I found none” does not prove there is nothing: town halls and the autonomous regions (Azores, Madeira) may run their own schemes, and I only read the national pages and three local programmes. Below is what I confirmed, what comes from the press and what I could not confirm.

What exists and what has ended

On the Fundo Ambiental site, the list of open calls showed none for buildings or housing.

Vale Eficiência: what happened and the new model

The Vale Eficiência II gave up to three vouchers of €1,300 plus VAT per household, for class A windows with external solar shading and other equipment. It was for people on the social electricity tariff, or with a household member on certain minimum social benefits. Beneficiary applications closed on 31 October 2024. New vouchers stopped being awarded in February 2026, and the programme, funded by the PRR, ended on 30 June 2026.

On 1 July 2026, the Minister of Environment and Energy told Parliament, according to Lusa, that the roughly 28,000 families (27,960, per the minister’s calendar) with an eligible application but no voucher would be supported through a new model, funded by the Fundo Ambiental. The minister said there will be no new call and no new assessment, because the Government has these families’ emails. Only debts to the tax office and social security will be checked. The families would be contacted from 15 October 2026, to choose the equipment and plan the works with participating suppliers.

The official Vale Eficiência II page, which I read on 22 October, does not mention this new model, and I found no Government press release and no news after 15 October. This is still to be confirmed by an official source. If you applied and were eligible, check your email (the spam folder too) and the e-Balcão, which the page names as the only official channel. Be wary of anyone who asks for money to “guarantee” a voucher. See the Vale Eficiência guide, with the timeline and what to do in each case.

The Banco Português de Fomento loan

Portaria 442-A/2025/1, of 12 December 2025, creates a repayable loan for home energy efficiency, run by the Banco Português de Fomento (BPF), with technical support from the Agência para o Clima. It is a loan, not a gift. It may include an interest subsidy and a public guarantee. The text says it must be available within one year of publication, that is, by 12 December 2026. You apply at participating banks, on terms BPF will set. I found no interest rate, term or list of banks. See the guide to the loan.

What the Portaria already says:

• Works: replacing inefficient windows with windows of minimum energy class A, insulation, shading, ventilation grilles, heat pumps, solar panels and others.
• Who: people in IRS brackets 1 to 4 (by the household’s taxable income), other people who hold rights to do the works, and bodies such as condominiums, cooperatives and charities. It covers the whole country, including the Azores and Madeira.
• Tenants: need a valid lease registered at the tax office and the owner’s permission.
• Energy certificate: in brackets 1 to 4 none is required before applying. Everyone else needs a valid certificate of class C or lower. For everyone, a prior certificate of class B or higher makes the home ineligible. After the works, a certificate is mandatory.
• Costs: they include non-deductible VAT. Costs already paid by other programmes are not eligible.

Programmes of town halls and regions

• Cascais: the Green Fund for Families has 3 million euros for families in the municipality living in a permanent home. For class A windows, the Regulation (Diário da República, 21 November 2024) co-funds 100% in IRS brackets 1 and 2, 90% in 3 and 4 and 70% in 5 and 6, up to €3,000. In brackets 1 to 4 the application goes through an IPSS and payment goes straight to the company. In 5 and 6 it is by reimbursement. I found no official page saying whether applications are open. Contact: 800 203 186. See the guide to the Cascais grant.
• Braga: BragaHabit, according to the press in January 2025, gave up to €2,500 per home to people on the social tariff, including windows. It was open until 31 December 2025. I did not confirm a new edition.
• Madeira: the IHM’s Casa + Eficiente closed applications on 31 December 2025.
• Other municipalities: I found none. Ask the council for your area. See the page for your town.

The Social Climate Plan

On 9 October 2026 the Government announced it had sent the European Commission a plan worth about 1.6 billion euros up to 2032. It aims to support about 50,000 vulnerable households with energy efficiency in the home. Formal negotiation and approval are still to come. Implementation is expected in the second half of 2027, with the first calls then, run by the Agência para o Clima (the Climate Agency). The announcement does not mention windows.

According to the press (Observador, February 2026, and DECO PROteste, March 2026), the measure is called “Famílias + Sustentáveis”, is aimed at people on the social tariff or with low incomes, and would include window replacement. This comes from news reports and is still to be confirmed by an official source. Amounts and application rules have not been published.

The social tariff

Many schemes for vulnerable families use the social electricity tariff as a test. According to ERSE (October 2026), you qualify if you receive certain social benefits (solidarity supplement for the elderly, social insertion income, unemployment benefit, family allowance, social old-age and disability pensions), or if your household’s yearly income is up to €6,272.64, plus 50% for each household member with no income, including yourself, up to 10. It must be a domestic contract in a permanent home, low voltage up to 6.9 kVA. It is granted automatically, and the supplier tells those who qualify.

VAT: the discount that exists today

The standard rate is 23%. A 6% rate applies to the operations in List I of the VAT Code. Two items may matter if you replace windows.

Item 2.27: works in homes where people live

It covers contracts for renovation, repair or maintenance of buildings used as housing. The current text is in the consolidated VAT Code. According to the tax authority (Circular Letter 30135):

• It must be a works contract: work with a price agreed in advance, not paid by the hour.
• The home must be used as housing before and after the work.
• The 6% does not cover materials, unless they are 20% or less of the total price.
• If materials are more than 20%, you only get 6% when the invoice separates labour from materials: labour pays 6% and materials 23%. With one global price, everything pays 23%.
• Materials you buy yourself pay 23% in the shop.
• The invoice must say “Taxa reduzida ao abrigo da verba 2.27 da Lista I anexa ao CIVA”, and name the owner and the property.

In a window replacement, the windows are materials. They probably weigh more than 20%, but it depends on the job. I found no tax authority ruling on windows specifically. Ask for the quote with labour and materials on separate lines, and ask which item the company uses.

Item 2.23: renovation in an ARU

It applies to renovation contracts for buildings in an urban rehabilitation area (ARU, Área de Reabilitação Urbana) delimited by law. The text has no 20% rule. For the earlier wording of the same item, the tax authority required proof that the work followed the rehabilitation operation approved for the area, and I found no guidance for the current wording. Ask the town hall whether your building is in an ARU, and ask the company to name the item in writing. The company is the one that charges the tax.

Decree-Law 97/2026

It creates a 6% rate for building or renovation contracts on properties that will be sold as a permanent home or rented out, up to price and rent limits. It runs until 31 December 2032. By its text, it is meant for works whose result is a home to sell or rent. I saw nothing that extends it to replacing windows in the home where you already live.

Income tax (IRS)

I found no IRS deduction for energy efficiency or windows. The tax authority’s leaflet “Informação de apoio IRS 2025” does not list one. There is a deduction for urban rehabilitation (article 71 of the Tax Benefits Statute): 30% of costs, capped at 500 €, for properties in an ARU or let with phased rent updates under the NRAU. It needs prior certification, and the work must raise the building’s state of repair by two levels (or meet the alternative rental condition). Replacing windows alone may not be enough. The town hall will tell you.

How not to lose a grant

• Read the call before you buy. In Vale Eficiência and E-Lar the person applied first, received a voucher and only then bought from a registered supplier. Buying first may not be accepted. The BPF loan does not pay costs already covered by another programme.
• Check the class required. Class A (Vale Eficiência and the BPF loan) or A+ (PAE+S) windows were required. Keep the ID of each window’s CLASSE+ label.
• Keep everything: quote, contract, invoices with your tax number and before-and-after photos.
• Use only the official channel. Be wary of anyone promising “windows paid by the State” or asking for your details to “apply for you”. See how to check a company.

If nothing is open

• Compare like with like: use the calculator and the quote checker. To ask for prices, measure your windows first.
• You can replace windows in stages, starting with the worst ones. See Replacing old windows.
• Ask your bank whether it has joined the BPF loan, which has to open by 12 December 2026.
• Follow the “Avisos Abertos e Fechados” page and the news of the Fundo Ambiental, the Government portal and the news on classemais.pt. I found no newsletter on the Fundo Ambiental or on classemais.pt.
• Do not postpone a replacement you need while waiting for a 2027 grant that has not been approved yet.

What I could not confirm

• Whether the new Vale Eficiência model is already running, and whether the families have been contacted: I only read press from July 2026.
• The interest rate, terms and banks of the BPF loan.
• The rules of “Famílias + Sustentáveis” and whether it will really include windows.
• Whether the Cascais Green Fund has applications open today, and whether BragaHabit had an edition in 2026.
• Programmes of other town halls and the autonomous regions.
• The status of IFRRU (IHRU financing for refurbishment): the page does not say whether it accepts new applications.

Sources

• Fundo Ambiental: Vale Eficiência II, PAE+S 2023, E-Lar phase 2, Bairros mais Sustentáveis, Condominiums: status, dates, amounts and eligible works, read on 19 and 22 October 2026.
• Portaria 442-A/2025/1 of 12 December (Diário da República): the BPF loan, who can apply, works, certificate and the one-year deadline. Text read on 22 October 2026.
• Government portal: Social Climate Plan and energy-efficiency loan: dates, targets and calendar.
• Diário da República: Aviso 26133/2024/2, Regulation of the Fundo Verde (Cascais): rates and limits for windows, who can apply. Text read on 22 October 2026.
• Cascais Council: Fundo Verde de Apoio às Famílias and IHM: Casa + Eficiente: brackets, rates, status and closure. Read on 22 October 2026.
• ERSE: Social tariff for electricity in 2026 (updated October 2026): who qualifies and the income limit.
• Tax portal: VAT Code, Circular 30135 and binding ruling 15432: items 2.23 and 2.27 and the 20% rule.
• Tax portal: Decree-Law 97/2026, article 71 of the EBF and IRS 2025 leaflet: new item 2.42, the refurbishment deduction and IRS brackets.
• Press, only as a lead: Executive Digest/Lusa, 1 July 2026 (new model and contact from 15 October), DECO PROteste, 24 March 2026, Observador, 26 February 2026 and RFM, 28 January 2025 (BragaHabit).

What to do next

• See what moves the price in How much do PVC windows cost and what the company should give you in writing in Warranties and certificates.
• Not sure about a term, such as Uw or class A? See the glossary.
• Thinking of replacing old windows? Start with Replacing old windows.
• Want to hear from someone who does not sell windows? See independent help.