General

The energy consulting service of the consumer advice center provides tips on how owners and tenants can prevent the formation of mold through proper heating and ventilation. After showering, cooking or sleeping, the property should first be completely aired. Subsequently, the energy advice of the consumer center recommends to leave the windows open for two to three hours...

A meadow orchard in Berlin-Johannisthal/Adlershof must make way for a school building. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 24 L 36/23). In the case in question, a community school is to be built on a plot of land of around 3.5 hectares, on which there is currently a meadow orchard. According to the Federal Nature Conservation Act, meadow orchards are protected biotopes that cannot be...

In addition to people in need of care who are cared for at home, nursing home residents can also apply for housing subsidies. This is pointed out by the NRW consumer center. Many people are not aware of this. If nursing home residents wish to apply for housing allowance, however, they must observe special regulations. For example, the housing allowance claim is not based on the individual rent amount, but on...

More about the "New Challenges for Home Ownership" was found out by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW Köln) on behalf of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG. One of the findings of the study was that fewer and fewer Germans can afford home ownership. Whereas a couple with a net income of 3,730 euros (median income household) was able to afford...

A new design strategy for processing medium manganese steel with improved properties has now been developed by a research team, mainly from China's Northeastern University and the Düsseldorf-based Max Planck Institute for Iron Research (MPIE). In its development, the research team has taken into account that steels must now not only be sustainable, strong and formable, but...

The academies of science acatech, Leopoldina and the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities have published an impulse paper entitled "Are blackouts in Germany likely? The researchers assume that "major power failures up to and including blackouts" are "unlikely" in Germany. However, they outline four measures to reduce the risks of large-scale blackouts in Germany.

Students can lose their entitlement to housing allowance if they take longer than necessary to complete their studies. This has now been decided by the Administrative Court of Berlin (VG 21 K 144/22). In the case at hand, a student who applied for housing allowance was in her 14th semester of studies and in her 20th semester of higher education. The application for housing allowance was rejected by the housing allowance authority of the...

Attention to detail, comfort and natural materials - according to the associations of the German furniture industry (VDM/VHK), these characteristics will be the trend in furniture in 2023. Modular solutions that allow numerous options are also in vogue. In terms of color choice, for example, the wood types ash and elm are currently being used with light colors such as white, beige or sand or powdery...

Wages rose faster than rents on average in Germany between 2015 and 2021. This is the result of the study on the "Affordability of Rents" by the Haus und Grund association. According to the study, the wages of full-time employees subject to social insurance contributions rose by a median of 14.2 percent to €3,525 over the period. In the same period, existing rents rose by 7.3 percent to 7.32...

The German Architecture Award 2023 is being offered by the Federal Ministry of Construction and the Chamber of Architects. Proposals for exemplary buildings or building ensembles can be submitted until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 29. These must have been built in Germany between January 1, 2021 and January 15, 2023. Proposals for buildings or building ensembles abroad can also be...