2023

The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) has looked at living conditions in cities, districts and regions against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic and published a corresponding publication. The "Atlas of Urban and Regional Development" is also dedicated to the area of housing. Among other things, the authors have analyzed the development of rental and...

The price of new-build apartments rose by around 17% from November 2021 to November 2022. This was reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Increased prices for various services and materials are likely to have had a significant impact on this. According to Destatis, prices for roofing and sealing work, among other things, rose by 20.3% in the period in question, while prices for...

The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzvb) advises customers affected by terminations without notice by their energy suppliers to claim compensation. According to the vzbv, the customers have suffered damage because they have fallen into the basic energy supply through no fault of their own. Customers often pay higher prices for the basic energy supply than for tariffs they have chosen themselves. Affected customers...

Do the reflections of a photovoltaic system constitute a nuisance for the neighbor or not? The Braunschweig Higher Regional Court had to deal with this question (Ref. 8 U 166/21). In this case, an owner sued his neighbor. The neighbor had installed a photovoltaic system on his roof. The panels would cause reflections of the sun's rays and a...

The "brigitte.de" portal has summarized the 2023 living trends and identified the following: the eclecticism trend, the coastal granny trend, the Japandi trend, the wellness trend, the marble trend and the greenterior trend. The eclecticism trend involves combining old and new furnishings. In order to find old furnishings, we recommend...

The asking prices for new-build and renovated older properties in Germany remain at a constant level. This is according to figures published by immobilienscout24.de. Prospective buyers currently have to pay an average of around EUR 5,200 per square meter for a renovated older property built between 1900 and 1949. For newer properties that were built in 2014 or later, the...

Roofers and electricians will cooperate in future to pool their knowledge of photovoltaic systems. This was decided by the Central Association of German Electrical and IT Trades (ZVEH) and the Central Association of German Roofers (ZVDH). As part of the cooperation, further training in relation to photovoltaic systems is planned, among other things. The aim of the...

In terms of net electricity generation, photovoltaics, among other things, increased from 2021 to 2022. This was reported by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. According to the report, solar power generation increased by 19 percent from 2021 to 2022. The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE attributes this to the expansion on the one hand and the sunny weather on the other. Overall, the German...

The state of Berlin has now finally failed in its attempt to protect houses from privatization by exercising its right of first refusal in a so-called milieu protection area in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has issued a ruling to this effect (III ZR 217/20). This shows that the appeal against the non-admission of the appeal was rejected.

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) points out the particular dangers of button cells for small children. If they are swallowed, they can get stuck in the oesophagus and cause serious damage to the mucous membrane. "If a button cell is swallowed, it should be examined immediately in a clinic," says BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel. Even with...