April 2023

Accessories and plants can create a homely atmosphere in a kitchen. Volker Irle, Managing Director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Die Moderne Küche (AMK), points this out. For example, cookbooks, memorabilia and bottles of wine, oil or vinegar can be placed on open shelving systems to create a decorative effect. For example, lettering with a reference to the kitchen can be used to decorate the kitchen walls.

The proportion of banks planning to grant more loans fell from 61% to 14% compared to the previous year. In addition, 67% of banks are planning to grant fewer loans than before. This is according to the "EY Credit Market Study" by the auditing firm Ernst & Young GmbH. Entrepreneurs and private individuals are also more likely to be unable to obtain a loan....

In order to save as many costs as possible, PDS Bank Nord advises builders to plan well and provides them with tips. For example, builders should make sure that the plot is already developed when they buy it. Otherwise, the costs for utilities, sewage and cable lines will be added to the price. Builders can also save costs if they only build a house with...

How do people who live near so-called dike relocation areas perceive flood protection? Researchers from the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Potsdam investigated this question. To this end, they surveyed over 300 people from Saxony-Anhalt in whose towns or cities dike relocation or floodplain renaturation measures have been carried out.

The taxpayers' association and the property owners' association Haus und Grund want to take legal action against property tax in five federal states. This is according to various media reports. One of the reasons for this is a study commissioned by the two associations. In this study, it becomes clear that the constitutional lawyer Gregor Kirchhoff considers the tax system applied in numerous...

The "schoener-wohnen.de" portal shows in a series of pictures how a dark semi-detached house in an old building can be transformed into a modern and light-flooded home. Various measures such as removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room, remodeling the bathroom and kitchen and choosing matching furniture give the old semi-detached house a new lease of life. The measures have...

Around six percent of households in major German cities have to make do with too little living space. This is according to the short report "Mismatch in the housing market" by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (iw Köln). Families and households with a migration background are particularly affected. On the other hand, six percent of households in large cities live in apartments that are actually too large for them.

The Federal Office for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) has announced the 29 entries that have made it to the final of the ideas competition "Join in, do it together. We are shaping structural change in our region". The competition was looking for ideas to improve the quality of life in the Lusatia, Central German and Rhineland regions affected by the coal phase-out.

Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZ Jülich), Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology are currently investigating how innovative printable solar panels can be used in the future. To this end, they recently launched the "Solar Technology Acceleration Platform for emerging Photovoltaics" (Solar TAP innovation platform). The aim is to work together with partners from the...

A tenant may not rent an apartment in order to sublet it to a third party. This also applies if the letting is only for a short period of time. This was recently decided by the Local Court of Frankfurt am Main (AZ: 940 OWi 862 Js 45753/22). In this case, the defendant rented a three-room apartment in Frankfurt am Main and sublet it. He offered the three-room apartment to...