Incidental housing costs in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have recently risen exceptionally sharply, by 9.7 percent. Net rents have also risen, namely by 1.7 percent. Overall, housing costs rose by 5 percent as a result. Tenants in NRW now have to pay an average of 13.15 euros per square meter per month for housing - of which 7.68 euros is for rent and 5.46 euros for ancillary costs.
This is according to the NRW housing cost report published by the owners' association Haus & Grund Rheinland Westfalen. "The inflation rate for 2021 was 3.1 percent. Cold rents have risen [...] significantly less than the general inflation, but ancillary housing costs have risen much more strongly," says association president Konrad Adenauer. According to Haus & Grund Rheinland Westfalen, the development is primarily due to the average increase of around 30.5 percent in heating costs and the 21.3 percent rise in costs for hot water preparation.
The increase in costs is due to economic developments on the one hand and the CO2 tax on the other. In addition, according to Haus & Grund, costs have also risen in other areas, for example for garden maintenance, janitors and chimney sweeps. The developments are causing problems for tenants and landlords: While in 2020, 27.3 percent of tenants still had to make an additional payment after receiving their service charge statement, by 2021 this figure had risen to 42.5 percent. Landlords have to advance the missing amount until the annual statement. Interested parties can download the complete housing cost report free of charge at hausundgrund-verband.de/themen/wohnkostenbericht/.
Source: hausundgrund-verband.de
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