As a rule, property owners who renovate their residential building to make it more energy efficient are allowed to pass on the renovation costs to their tenants. After the owner and landlady of a residential building in Berlin had the floor of the attic insulated, she assessed a monthly rent increase of 25 euros per household.
The tenant living under the attic floor did not agree with the demand, because for her the energy-saving measure contradicted another modernization measure that the landlady had carried out at the same time. This was because, at the same time as the attic floor was being insulated, the owner had the existing closed roof converted to a ventilated cold roof. The case ended up in court (AZ 202 C 374/17).
The Berlin-Charlottenburg Local Court ruled in favor of the tenant and confirmed that the monthly rent increase demanded by the landlord cannot be approved. This is because the purpose of the energy renovation by insulating the floor is in contrast to the conversion of the roof into a cold roof construction. Thus, these two measures carried out at the same time do not result in any energy cost savings in the plaintiff's apartment and in the entire residential property, so that the demand for a rent increase cannot be justified and is obsolete.
Source: AG Berlin-Charlottenburg
© fotolia.com
