July 2022

Solid wood furniture: the right care 

Solid wood furniture needs the right care to keep it looking good for a long time. The Initiative Pro Massivholz points this out. Depending on the furniture, either oil, varnish or wax can be used to protect the surface. If owners are not sure which surface protection is the right one, they should ask the manufacturer. Because, according to the Initiative Pro Massivholz, "the wrong...

Study: Living in old age 

How do people in Germany want to live in old age? Ipos GmbH investigated this question on behalf of "Apotheken Umschau". The focus was on the so-called baby boomers, i.e. respondents between the ages of 50 and 64. The result was that over half of those surveyed (53 percent) could imagine living in a multi-generational house in old age. Also...

Accessibility: funding possible again 

The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) is promoting barrier-reduction measures with its "Age-Appropriate Conversion" program. To this end, it is providing private building owners and tenants with 75 million euros via KfW. In addition to older people and people with limited mobility, families with children can also take advantage of the funding.

Particulate matter: DUH calls for mandatory filters for wood-burning stoves 

Together with citizens in 338 cities and municipalities, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has submitted applications for a filter obligation for new wood-burning stoves and an obligation to retrofit old wood-burning stoves. Particularly in cities such as Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Bonn and Freiburg, DUH criticizes the excessive fine dust pollution caused by wood firing. Due to the war in Ukraine, more and more people are currently...

Court: Dispute over smoke detectors 

Landlords may not simply pass on the costs of smoke detectors to their tenants via the service charge bill. This is because the costs are not apportionable. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (VIII ZR 379/20). In this case, a landlord installed smoke alarms and commissioned a company to carry out maintenance. She informed her tenant of the expected costs and...

Annual statement: owners see need for improvement 

Owners want more clarity and transparency with regard to their annual statements of accounts from homeowners' associations. This is the result of an online survey conducted by the association "Wohnen im Eigentum" (WiE). According to WiE, only half of those surveyed found the annual statements to be structured and laid out in an understandable and comprehensible way and only 42% found them to be...

Bank: Soft landing or stagflation possible on the real estate market 

According to Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB), project developers in particular are currently facing major challenges. This is due to price increases, delivery bottlenecks, construction delays and higher financing costs. "We are noticing a clear reluctance on the part of developers, with almost a third of project developments already being postponed," says Peter Axmann, Head of Real Estate Clients at...

Trade show: "DACH+HOLZ International" in Cologne 

Interested parties can visit the "DACH+HOLZ International" trade fair in Cologne (Messeplatz 1) until Friday, July 8. There will be 300 exhibitors from 23 countries on site. On Wednesday, July 6, the "future sisters" will address the question "Women in the trades - why not?" The program with various lectures and discussion rounds starts at 10 am. A...

Study: Energy efficiency in retail 

Landlords of retail properties are reluctant to invest in energy-saving measures. This is the conclusion reached by the authors of the study "Energy efficiency measures for tenants in the retail sector", published by adelphi and the climate protection offensive of the retail sector. The reason for this is a so-called tenant-landlord dilemma. This describes the fact that the tenants responsible for implementing the...

Ruling: Residents must accept truck passage in low emission zone 

In Stuttgart, residents living in an environmental and truck transit ban zone must continue to accept the passage of trucks. This has now been decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH; VI ZR 110/21). The residents had sued for an injunction because a haulage company "violated the ban on through traffic several times a day" and they assumed that the passage of trucks posed a health hazard. Even before the...

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