2023

Paying high rents and repaying loans is a burden for more and more Germans. As a result, 12 percent of 12,000 respondents are planning to move for financial reasons. These are the findings of a joint analysis by the ifo Institute and Immowelt. The respondents could theoretically save costs, for example, by moving from the usually expensive city to the often cheaper...

The Construction Circular Economy Initiative under the auspices of the German Building Materials Association recently published a new monitoring report with figures on the generation and fate of mineral construction waste. According to Dr. Matthias Frederichs, Managing Director of the German Building Materials Association, "mineral construction waste is now almost completely...

The energy advice service of the consumer advice center provides tips on how owners and tenants can prevent the formation of mould through correct heating and ventilation. After showering, cooking or sleeping, the property should first be completely aired out. Afterwards, the energy advice from the consumer advice center recommends leaving the windows open for two to three...

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 this case, a community school is to be built on an approximately 3.5-hectare plot of land that is currently home to 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 benefit. The NRW consumer advice center points this out. Many people are not aware of this. However, if nursing home residents wish to apply for housing benefit, they must observe special regulations. For example, the entitlement to housing benefit is not based on the individual rent amount, but on the...

The Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW Köln) has found out more about the "New challenges for home ownership" on behalf of Deutsche Reihenhaus AG. One of the findings of the study was that fewer and fewer Germans are able to afford home ownership. While 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 Max Planck Institute for Iron Research (MPIE) in Düsseldorf. During development, the research team took into account the fact that steels now not only have to be sustainable, strong and formable, but...

The science academies acatech, Leopoldina and Akademienunion have published an impulse paper entitled "Are blackouts in Germany likely?". The researchers assume that "major power outages, including blackouts" in Germany are "unlikely". However, they outline four measures to reduce the risks of a large-scale blackout.

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

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 are also in vogue, offering a wide range of options. In terms of color selection, for example, the wood types ash and elm are currently being combined with light colors such as white, beige or sand or powdery...