Builders can now also have so-called energy-plus houses built. The portal "effizienzhaus-online.de" points this out. Energy-plus houses are houses that not only save energy, but can also produce energy. The principle of energy-plus houses is based on more efficient building use and therefore...

There will be some changes in the energy sector in 2023. The energy advice service of the consumer advice center provides information on these. Among other things, consumers should be aware of the energy efficiency regulations for new buildings, the cap on energy prices and the promotion of energy-saving investments. From 2023, for example, stricter requirements will apply to new buildings with regard to energy...

BHW-Bausparkasse may not charge an annual fee during the savings phase of home loan and savings contracts. This was recently decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH, AZ: XI ZR 551/21). In this case, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) had filed a lawsuit against the building society in question. The building society had demanded an annual fee of 12 euros from its customers with a building society account. Wrongly, as the BGH...

At the Nature Garden Days 2022, members of the "NaturGarten" association and interested parties can learn more about topics such as "Creating & maintaining meadows" and "Planning & designing borders". The Nature Garden Days will take place from Thursday, February 2, to Sunday, February 5, in the Stadthalle Hagen. While from Thursday to Saturday they will probably mainly be attended by...

Price slumps of up to ten percent for condominiums and owner-occupied homes in Germany - this is the trend predicted by study author Konstantin A. Kholodilin from the Macroeconomics Department of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). Together with his colleague Malte Rieth, he examined the development of rental and purchase prices in 97 German cities. From the...

In two workshops, more than 80 people from 65 German municipalities discussed how cities can make themselves climate-proof and better protect themselves against extreme weather events. The twelve recommendations for action from the project "ExTrass - 'Urban resilience to extreme weather events - typologies and transfer of adaptation strategies in cities'" were presented in a policy brief.

Many homeowners find it difficult to initiate and implement energy-efficient renovations. This is the result of a flash survey conducted by the consumer protection association Wohnen im Eigentum (WiE), in which around 2,700 homeowners took part. Among other things, the survey shows that only 8 percent of the homeowners surveyed are aware that they can make energy-saving...

A landlord may not simply turn off the hot water to his tenants, not even in summer. This was decided by the Frankfurt Administrative Court (case reference 8 L 1907/22.F). In this case, a landlord had cut off the gas supply to his tenants in the summer due to the Ukraine conflict and the associated supply bottlenecks and price increases. The landlord stated that his tenants...

They are annoying, but unfortunately always necessary: minor repairs or the removal of damage to furniture in the apartment or house. The portal "schoener-wohnen.de" has put together a few tips so that tenants or owners don't have to call a handyman every time. For example, if a piece of solid wood furniture has a notch or dent, you can rely on the...

Ancillary housing costs in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) have recently risen by an unusually high 9.7%. Net rents have also risen by 1.7 percent. Overall, housing costs have risen by 5 percent as a result. Tenants in NRW now have to pay an average of €13.15 per square meter per month for housing - of which €7.68 is for rent and €5.46 for...