Federal Minister for Building (SPD), Verena Hubertz, has linked her demands for enhanced tenant protection within the reforming “Heating Law” (which is set to be titled the Building Modernization Law, or GModG) to the escalating threat of energy costs.
According to her comments to “Welt am Sonntag” if a landlord opts for a new gas or oil boiler-a choice likely permitted under the new building law-the associated costs could climb significantly over time due to rising fuel prices. Hubertz argues that because tenants have no Say regarding this installation, landlords must share responsibility for rising costs.
She pointed out that current geopolitical factors mean the high prices for gas and oil already exceed the expected impact of a future CO2 price increase. Compounding this is the “bio-staircase”-a requirement set by the coalition and decided upon in February-which mandates that newly installed boilers must gradually become more environmentally friendly. Hubertz noted that since the market for biogas and bio-oil, essential for the transport and building sectors, must quickly scale up, price increases are inevitable.
Model calculations performed by the Fraunhofer Institute ISI show that if the planned reform proceeds, assuming continued gas heating and that tenants bear the full financial burden, the measures could impose an additional strain of roughly 18,600 euros on tenants between 2027 and 2045.
Furthermore, hubs of district heating risk inflated consumer prices. Hubertz announced that they are developing a new legal framework for district heating to prevent situations where basic connection access is tied to prohibitively high, or “moon” prices, thus leaving consumers vulnerable to uncontrolled price formation.
The cost issues extend beyond energy. Raw material shortages, exacerbated by the war in Iran, are once again sending building material prices skyrocketing. While cost increases for specific products, such as bitumen, are a problem, Hubertz emphasized that overall construction costs are too high and progressing too slowly. To address this, she highlighted the development of a “Building Type E Contract” for which a working paper has been drafted with the Ministry of Justice. This contract would integrate contractor obligations with state building codes, requiring merely the adherence to a simple standard. Utilizing this framework could save between ten to twenty percent of the total construction costs, with a preliminary draft expected by the summer.