Energy refurbishments in Berlin How costs and benefits of ambitious climate protection measures are distributed between tenants and landlords
In order to achieve climate policy goals in the building sector, not only a transition of heating systems to renewable energies but also comprehensive energy refurbishments to reduce the heating demand are necessary. This involves a high investment requirement, which must initially be covered by the landlords. Tenants face challenges due to the resulting rent increases as a consequence of the modernisation allocation.
Due to the already tense situation on the Berlin housing market, the question arises as to whether and under what conditions energy-efficient refurbishments can be carried out in a socially acceptable way. Within the framework of the study, calculations were carried out on the cost distribution of energy-efficient refurbishments in different model buildings. The results show that it is difficult to make universally applicable statements on the evaluation of energy-efficient renovations from the perspective of tenants and landlords due to a variety of influencing factors. However, the results of the model calculations also show that ambitious refurbishments can be designed in such a way that both tenants and landlords benefit from them and that, from the tenants' point of view, costs are lower than with refurbishments according to the legally required minimum standard.
In particular, the use of subsidies and the allocation practice play a decisive role here. The control of these two factors is therefore of great importance for political measures in order to achieve the set reduction targets in a socially acceptable way. Since ambitious renovation standards prevent high burdens from rising energy and CO2 costs in the medium to long term, Berlin should support and, where possible, demand them.
