The government will shorten the eligibility period for households to receive eco-point incentives in newly built or refurbished houses with eco-friendly features by five months until construction begun by July 31, the infrastructure ministry said Friday.

The step comes as a greater-than-expected number of people have applied for the incentives, threatening to deplete the budgetary resources set aside for the program at an early date, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourisms said.

The government had set the end of the period at Dec 31 under the program’s 240 billion yen budget for 1.2 million homes, but had already granted eco-points for 300,000 new houses and 360,000 refurbished homes by the end of April.

Under the program, builders or buyers of new houses are entitled to up to 320,000 yen worth of eco-points, which can be exchanged for gift coupons with one point being held equal to one yen, if they meet the government’s energy conservation standards such as having solar heating systems.