KfW funding for air-water heat pump possible with partial demolition (new construction or conversion?)

Dear forum,

We are currently planning to demolish an old house down to the top of the basement ceiling and then build a new ground floor and upper floor (1.5 stories, gable roof) on top. The basement is then only to be used as a storage cellar and will not be insulated; the previous living spaces in the basement will be moved to the upper floor (previously a bungalow).

The old house is still inhabited at the moment; in the basement there is the old oil heating system and oil tanks, which are to be removed in the course of the demolition and replaced by an air-to-water heat pump. The location of the heat pump is the basement, but as of now it only heats the ground floor and upper floor, possibly also the insulated stairwell to the basement.

My question: In my opinion, there is no KFW funding for heat pumps in new buildings. But isn’t this a modernization (despite partial demolition), so that funding would be possible?
Would the application still have to be made while the existing ground floor is still standing, or is it irrelevant if the application is only submitted when the existing building (except the basement) is already gone?

Thanks for your assessment!

We happen to be faced with the same initial situation: existing basement with bungalow, the latter is to be replaced by a new 1.5-story residential building. Heating technology is to be modernized from oil heating to a heat pump.

Have your questions regarding this meanwhile been clarified? I would be very interested to know how you proceed from here...

A modernization or also renovation or refurbishment is a measure for maintaining value, that is, an improvement of a specific property. In the case of demolition, there is no preservation, but the opposite, destruction. Thus, the question, including the initial question, almost answers itself.

With funding, one aims to prevent exactly what you plan: the destruction through demolition of a substance, an object. The goal is to preserve the resources in the old property.

What you are planning is simply a new build on the "existing" foundation/basement.

Such a reconstruction on an existing basement was in some cases regarded as a renovation, including massive (at that time,) funding. I know of one case firsthand. The architect and building authority have to cooperate, but it is probably not impossible.

That it is not intended that way is of course another matter.