General

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...

The energy supply and service company "enercity" reveals which aspects tenants should pay attention to when looking for an apartment and how they can uncover energy guzzlers. Among other things, tenants should check the apartment for spatial conditions, the condition of windows and doors, and for mold. In addition, they can find out about the condition of the heating system,...

For the time being, the community of heirs of Hedwig Adlon will not receive compensation for her hotel expropriation in November 1949, according to a decision by the Berlin Administrative Court (VG 29 K 131/20). Hedwig Adlon had been expropriated at the time as a result of the "Law on the Confiscation of Assets of War Criminals and Nazi Activists". According to the Berlin Administrative Court, she was charged with, among other things,...

The German Furniture Quality Association (DGM) advises customers to try out chairs and upholstered furniture before buying. Prospective buyers should take 30 minutes or more to test the new piece of furniture. According to DGM, they should not only check the individual seating comfort, but also take a closer look at the other features of the piece of furniture. Thereby...

The "Social Housing" alliance is calling on the federal government and the states to launch a joint "social housing offensive. The state must provide a special fund of 50 billion euros for social housing by 2025 in order to achieve the goal of 400,000 social housing units by the end of the legislative period. In 2022, only 20,000 social housing units had been built. In addition, the alliance demands...

Interested parties can apply for the Aerogel Architecture Award 2023 until Sunday, April 30, 2023 (11:59 p.m.). The category "Realized Solutions" is looking for internationally realized projects by architects and civil engineers in which aerogel is used in a special way. Students can submit their project ideas in the "Student Designs" category....

How can innovation activities of online communities be better assessed? This question has now been investigated by the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW) and the Technical University of Berlin. In their research project "Peer Innovation", the institutions have developed a so-called open-source toolbox that examines the innovation activities of peer communities...

A buyer purchases an undeveloped plot of land from a municipality. She contractually undertakes to bear the development costs. If this is the case, she only has to pay real estate transfer tax on the purchase price of the undeveloped property, but not on the purchase price stated including the development costs. This has now been announced by the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) (ruling dated 28....

The portal schoener-wohnen.de has broken down what so-called "death cleaning" is all about. The trend is not only to help clear out the apartment or house, but also one's own life. The method goes back to Margareta Magnusson, which wrote with "The gentle kind of swedish death cleaning" also a suitable book to the topic. The aim of this...