General

The terms "temporary living" or "short-term rentals" refer to housing concepts in which the definition of "home" develops into a feeling that can arise in different places rather than referring to a fixed location, such as a city or a neighborhood. Since 1998, the Zukunftsinstitut has been working on the...

According to the latest calculations and forecasts by the Federal Statistical Office, the number of single-person households in Germany will rise to 19.3 million by 2040. In 2018, around 17.3 million people lived alone in a private household. A detailed listing of the Federal Statistical Office's calculations of population trends in Germany are available in the volume "Development...

Anyone who builds a house, modernizes their home or has damage and defects repaired is usually dependent on the cooperation of an expert craftsman. To ensure that there are no nasty surprises during and after the construction work, the Bauherren-Schutzbund e. V. explains, for example, what the difference is between a craftsman's contract and a consumer contract,...

Wind turbines convert wind into electricity and have become an indispensable part of environmentally friendly power generation in Germany. There are around 30,000 wind turbines in Germany, but they have to be dismantled after about twenty years and replaced with new ones. Some components of the wind turbines, such as the steel and concrete used, are...

The tenants of a five-room apartment in a villa in Berlin must evict their tenant. This is because, according to a court ruling, they have significantly violated their lease obligations. Despite several warnings, they repeatedly let their two dogs run around unleashed on the property's common areas, which include a children's playground. The owner submits...

In times of open living concepts, where living and dining areas are connected with the kitchen, the visual appearance of the kitchen plays an increasingly important role. With a modern kitchen backsplash, residents set visual accents that can be perfectly integrated into the overall living concept. Likewise, kitchen backsplashes serve as protection against splashes and grease stains when cooking. But which material...

The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) have published a new edition of the guide to dealing with problem properties. This guide not only shows the current developments and risks of problem properties in Germany, but also presents possibilities and opportunities for neighborhood development as well as for the...

Once a suitable building plot has been found and purchased, the next step is to plan the floor plan. This step is very important in the house-building process because, after all, the residents should feel comfortable in their own home in the long term. When creating the floor plan, it is important above all that the rooms are laid out in such a way that they meet the current and also the future requirements of the...

At the end of 2019, the German government has decided to increase subsidies in the area of building renovation. Since the beginning of this year, property owners have benefited from significant tax advantages from the tax office as well as subsidies from the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (Bafa) and the state-owned Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). Prerequisite for the subsidy...

As a rule, property owners who renovate their residential building to make it more energy efficient are allowed to pass on the renovation costs to their tenants. After the owner and landlady of a residential building in Berlin had the floor of the attic insulated, she assessed a monthly rent increase of 25 euros per household. The tenant living under the attic floor was not satisfied with the...