February 2021

Home office: surveillance at work

Everyone is talking about home offices. There is now plenty of information on setting up a home office and tips on how best to manage the balancing act between private interests and everyday working life. Employees are also informed that for the years 2020 and 2021, a home office allowance can be claimed in the tax return as income-related expenses or business...

Trend: micro-living and micro-apartments

According to forecasts by experts from the housing industry, offerings from the "micro-apartments" asset class will continue to establish themselves on the housing market and grow. The real estate consultant BNP Paribas Real Estate, for example, cites a number of reasons for the promising forecasts. First and foremost, micro-apartments consistently offer stable occupancy rates. This is because even in the...

Tip: Turnkey houses

Builders who decide to build a house "turnkey" must pay attention to important points - because not every turnkey house is completely finished and ready to move in. Since the term "turnkey" is not protected, special attention must be paid to what services the construction project includes and what costs may still be added. For this, builders should...

New EU energy labels as of March

New guidelines for the EU energy label will apply from March 2021. This means that electronic devices will be newly classified into energy efficiency classes and labeled with the appropriate energy label. The background to this is that the current classification into energy efficiency classes is only of limited significance, as many electrical appliances have achieved efficiency improvements very quickly in recent years....

Judgment: Parking spaces in the courtyard permissible

In a residential area in Saxony-Anhalt, the building that housed a youth welfare office until 2016 was to be converted into a residential building. The apartments to be built there were to be rented out from 2019. In addition, 26 parking spaces were to be created in the inner courtyard of the building complex. The owner had a building permit for the construction measures. The owner of the...

Tips: Design hallway as a living space

The hallway is as much a part of the apartment and thus of one's own home as the living room, dining room and bedroom. However, it is often treated merely as a passageway or as a storage room. Actually surprising, considering that a hallway is the first room you enter in your own home. To avoid interior design mistakes and give the corridor the same charm as the rest...

Forsa study: Living in old age

The Forsa study "Living in old age" commissioned by Vivir as part of the "Vivienda" project deals with the redevelopment of the living culture of the 60 plus generation. Vivir's project planning focuses on housing and living concepts that are geared toward a lively community and individual service offerings. With new living concepts, a self-determined life and living in old age is to be...

The variety of garage doors

Anyone who owns a garage is spoiled for choice when it comes to finding the right door. Whether roller shutter, sectional, up-and-over, sliding or swing door, garage doors come in different functionalities and materials. For example, owners can choose between aluminum, plastic or wooden doors. Garage doors can be opened manually or electronically. What they have in common...

More energy efficiency with new skylights

Those who want to improve the energy balance of their existing property often think about replacing the windows. Special attention should also be paid to skylights. This is because the frames of old skylights become rotten over time and the glazing does not meet today's insulation standards. Another advantage is that in the course of replacing the skylight immediately...

Ruling: Modernization rent increase permissible after rent increase

Whether a rent increase may be followed by a modernization rent increase is clarified by a ruling (AZ VIII ZR 367/18) before the Federal Supreme Court (BGH). The landlady of an apartment in Berlin increased the rent by 37 euros per month to a total of 224 euros in 2010 in accordance with Section 558 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The reason for this was structural changes in the apartment, such as the conversion of the toilet into a bathroom....

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