In the fight against climate change, the EU is planning significant requirements for homeowners. The tenants’ association fears that, in the end, tenants will bear the renovation costs.
The German Tenants’ Association warns of burdens for tenants due to the obligation to renovate certain buildings planned by the EU Commission.
“The landlords incur significant costs through the renovation, which they will pass on to the tenants,” said association president Lukas Siebenkotten of the “image”. “The result: rents will rise.” There are legal regulations that limit the rise in rents. But: “They have to be consistently observed and applied.” Politicians must also make more money available for investments.
The EU Commission proposes a renovation obligation for buildings that consume a lot of energy – around 15 percent of buildings in the EU would be affected. According to calculations by the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GDW), there are three million buildings in Germany. According to the proposal, public and uninhabited buildings are to be renovated by 2027, apartments and houses by 2030. All new buildings would have to be completely climate-neutral from 2030, i.e. no longer emit greenhouse gases.
In the Commission’s view, tenants could benefit from the reforms through lower heating costs. Funds for the renovations are to be provided, among other things, by a climate social fund.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, the building sector is responsible for around 30 percent of CO2 emissions in Germany. The area was the only sector to miss its climate protection target in 2020. Old and unrenovated buildings in particular consume a lot of energy. New buildings, on the other hand, cause a lot of greenhouse gases that arise during the manufacture and transport of materials such as concrete, steel and cement.
Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz emphasized on Friday the need for climate protection progress in the building sector. “Building is the gray elephant in the climate change,” said the SPD politician in the ZDF “morning magazine”. “From my point of view, this has huge potential for savings, but it is still not moving enough.”
An important point is the strengthening of German building research – you need innovative building materials. “The discussion about wood instead of concrete is an exciting one, but it won’t work with wood alone,” said Geywitz. “We also have to make conventional materials more climate-friendly.”
She knows that the construction industry “is also looking a bit with concern at the higher climate protection standards”. “That is why I say: We must also see this process as an opportunity.” He could not be avoided, “we have to do climate-friendly building,” emphasized Geywitz. “But that can also be a good opportunity to simply add a very progressive, innovative component to the already very high quality of the German construction industry, which is then also incredibly exportable.”
Source From: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
