February 2022

Law: Murder not a reason to reverse a sales contract

A real estate purchase contract cannot be rescinded without further ado if a crime has occurred in the property and the buyer did not know about it at the time of signing. This was recently decided by the Regional Court of Coburg (LG Coburg, judgment of 06.10.2020, file number: 11 O 92/20). In the case at hand, a buyer had purchased a house in 2018. The seller had not informed her of the...

Modernization: Tool provides rough cost overview

The portal wohnen-magazin.de breaks down the costs of modernization measures. Under the "Modernize" tab, interested parties will find a tool in which they can once again choose between "Renovate for energy efficiency" and "Create living space". Under "Energetic renovation", for example, planned modernization measures such as "modernizing the heating system",...

Survey: Consumers fear burdens from higher energy prices

62 percent of consumers fear that higher energy prices will weigh heavily on them. This is the result of a survey conducted by Kantar on behalf of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv). In addition, according to the survey, 71 percent of consumers do not want insolvent low-income customers to have their electricity or gas cut off by the end of April 2022. In the telephone survey...

Construction: Prices increased enormously

Prices for construction have recently risen enormously. According to the Federal Statistical Office, producer prices for building materials such as wood and steel in particular rose more sharply on average in 2021 than at any time since the survey began in 1949. Solid structural timber also became more expensive, by 77.3 percent compared with the previous year's average. Roof battens became 65.1 percent more expensive and...

Heating: How to reduce costs

Owners and tenants can reduce their heating costs through various measures. This is now pointed out by the VdZ - Forum for Energy Efficiency in Building Technology. For example, they can lower the room temperature somewhat. Per lowered degree about six per cent of the energy can be saved. In addition, the Heizköper should not be set to the highest level, since rooms thereby...

Rent cap: Retained amounts not grounds for immediate termination

A landlord may not immediately terminate the lease of a tenant who has partially withheld her rent due to the Berlin rent cap. This has now been decided by the Berlin Regional Court. In the case at hand, the tenant had withheld part of the rent since March 2020 in reliance on the rent cap. She did not immediately repay this part after the rent cap was abolished in spring 2021,...

Decoration: tips for the first apartment

What can young tenants who are moving into their first own apartment look out for? The answer to this question and various tips are provided by the site bellevue.nzz.ch. For example, before buying furniture and accessories, it is first advisable to think about the furnishing style. In addition, tenants should think in advance about the choice of colors and decide on a color family....

Baufi barometer: Desire for home ownership unbroken

Despite the sharp rise in real estate and land prices, Germans are still happy to invest in their own homes and the number of loan agreements is holding "at a consistently high level. This is the conclusion reached by ING Deutschland on the basis of the Baufi Barometer. Based on the question "How does Germany finance?", the construction financing data of ING customers was anonymously...

Construction projects: Good planning reduces pollutant discharges

Good planning during construction can reduce a large proportion of pollutant emissions. This has now been pointed out by the Federal Environment Agency. A study - conducted between summer 2018 and winter 2020 in two new construction areas in Berlin - shows that by taking environmental concerns into account at an early planning stage, pollutant emissions from construction projects can be reduced by more than 90 percent....

Energy prices: Wärme+ advises owners to renovate for energy efficiency

The initiative heat+ advises owners due to the risen energy prices to the energetic reorganization of their house. This has several advantages: The energy efficiency of the property can be increased and costs can be reduced. In addition, owners contribute to environmental and climate protection. Among the measures the Initiative Wärme+ advises owners to take is heating with...

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