The German Bundestag has budgeted EUR 333 million for a special fund for infrastructure and climate neutrality. The funds are intended to enable the promotion of multi-year investment projects by municipalities for sports facilities of particular regional importance.

In doing so, the federal government supports the municipalities in reducing the existing renovation backlog at municipal sports facilities. The projects are to be of “particular importance for social cohesion and social integration in the municipality as well as with regard to their sustainability and accessibility.”

Eligible investments

All sports facilities that want to benefit from the new SKS programme must be accessible to the public. The fund particularly focuses on buildings but also enables the conversion or renovation of synthetic turf pitches, provided that certified, sustainable materials are used here that “ensure an appropriate service life and are recyclable.” Synthetic turf systems with polymeric fillers are not eligible for funding.

In principle, the funding includes conceptual, investment-preparatory and investment expenditure – including expenditure on energy-related specialist planning and construction supervision services by “recognised energy efficiency experts.” Inter-municipal projects are expressly welcomed.

SKS programme for club facilities

The SKS programme is a funding programme for municipalities. Nevertheless, the funding guideline explicitly mentions that properties “that are owned by third parties” can also be funded. This includes, above all, club-owned facilities, even if the settlement continues to be carried out by the municipality responsible. The call for projects states: “Applicants and recipients of funding are the respective municipalities even if the property to be funded is owned by third parties (in particular association property). Forwarding of the donation to third parties in accordance with VV No. 12 to § 44 BHO is permissible.”

Financing and amount of funding

“The grant is made in the form of a non-repayable grant as project funding, generally in the form of fixed-amount financing. The grants shall be limited to a maximum amount at the time of approval.”  The minimum funding is 250,000 euros, with a maximum of up to 8 million euros being made available for an individual project. In the case of grants of more than 6 million euros (funds from the federal and state governments combined), the Federal Building Administration must be involved in the process in any case. The procedure is then based on the “Guidelines for the Implementation of Grant Construction Measures (RZBau).”

The eligible share of the total investment costs is a maximum of 45%. The municipalities or districts (if the sports facility is owned by the district) must contribute at least 55% to the project. As usual, somewhat less strict requirements apply to municipalities with budget emergencies: Here, their own contribution is at least 25%, while 75% is borne by the federal government. However: “Municipalities and districts must make their own contributions and any third-party funding proportional to the budget funds made available by the federal government. An advance payment with federal funds and the later compensation with municipal funds is not possible.”

Third-party financing

The new SKS guideline does not fundamentally exclude the inclusion of third parties in the financing. “Uninvolved third parties,” that is, natural or legal persons who are not themselves recipients or beneficiaries of the funding (e.g., foundations, donors), can take over part of the municipality’s own contribution, but a minimum municipal contribution of 10% remains mandatory in any case.

For “third parties involved,” that is, private, public or church owners or beneficiaries, the following applies: “These cannot replace the municipality’s own contribution. They are therefore, deducted when determining the total eligible expenditure; their amount forms the basis for calculating the municipal contribution and the maximum subsidy amount of the federal government. Special needs allocations under the financial equalisation laws of the Länder shall not be regarded as voluntary contributions in this sense and may be regarded as a municipal contribution.” Here, too, the municipality must continue to make its own contribution of at least 10%, regardless of any financial participation by third parties.

Cumulation with other funding programmes

In principle, it is possible to cumulate with funding programmes from “another public donor.” This includes above all the various (sports facility) funding programmes of the individual federal states. Cumulation with other federal funding programmes is not possible, in particular and explicitly with the following programmes:

• Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings – Non-Residential Buildings (BEG NWG)
• Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings – Individual Measures (BEG EM)
• Federal Funding for Efficient Buildings – Climate-Friendly New Construction (KFN)
• Federal funding for climate-friendly new construction in the low-price segment (KNN)
• Federal programme for the promotion of climate protection projects in the municipal environment
• Municipal guidelines
• Urban development funding from the federal government

Application and processing

The funding programme is divided into two phases: After the project outlines have been submitted, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag decides on the projects to be submitted for application and applicants can then apply for the actual funding in a second phase. The first phase ends on 15 January 2026, by which time any eligible project outlines – including a corresponding council or district council resolution, which can be submitted by 31 January, if necessary – must be submitted online via the federal funding portal. Written applications are no longer possible.

The form for submitting project outlines will be available on the federal government’s funding portal “easy-Online” from 10 November 2025.

The applicants whose projects are selected in phase 1 will then be asked to submit a corresponding grant application, which, in addition to the application form, also contains an expenditure and financing plan, and a schedule as well as corresponding evidence of the municipal financing share (council/district council resolution), and, if applicable, other donors. Before the actual application is submitted, those responsible for the selected projects will be invited to an “application and coordination meeting to be carried out at short notice.” From this point on, the municipalities have four weeks to submit their grant applications and 24 months to call up the funds.

Evaluation criteria

The above criteria represent the minimum requirements for eligible projects and measures. However, the federal government also emphasizes in its funding guideline that over-fulfilment of the minimum requirements mentioned above can have a positive influence on approval – the more sustainable and innovative the project, the higher the chances of funding.

Specifically, the following points have a positive effect on the evaluation:

• Efficiency Building Level 70 or higher
• Inter-municipal projects with regional significance
• Advanced project maturity of at least service phase 3 HOAI, which can be expected to be implemented quickly
• Share of renewable energies and/or unavoidable waste heat in the heat supply of at least 75% in the renovation of outdoor swimming pools
• Implementation of comprehensive accessibility measures
• Rapid implementation, coherent project structure, long-term usability
• Significant contribution to social cohesion
• Use of sustainable building materials