In most cases, tenants should no longer pay the climate tax on heating costs alone in the future. Instead, their landlords should take over part of the so-called CO2 price – depending on how climate-friendly their house is.
Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), Minister of Construction Klara Geywitz (SPD) and Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) agreed on a phased model, as their ministries announced on Sunday. Only tenants in very well insulated houses should therefore still bear the surcharge completely themselves.
The regulation should apply from 2023 – and thus half a year later than the SPD, Greens and FDP had planned in the coalition agreement. Next, the plans go to the cabinet and then to the Bundestag.
CO2 price makes heating more expensive
Since last year, the so-called CO2 price has made heating and refueling more expensive. The levy is intended to help reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions. This year it is 30 euros per tonne of CO2. According to calculations by the Emissions Trading Authority, this amounts to 8 cents per liter for one liter of heating oil and 0.5 cents per kilowatt hour for natural gas. By 2025, the CO2 price is set to increase significantly further in stages.
So far, landlords have been able to pass on the additional costs completely to their tenants – although they have little influence if they have high energy costs due to poor insulation or an old heating system. The traffic light coalition has therefore decided that the landlords should be involved. “Millions of tenants are thus specifically relieved,” said Geywitz.
Landlords should pay in seven stages
The model is now based on the CO2 emissions of the rented building. This means that the worse the house is insulated and the older the heating or the windows are, for example, the more the tenants are relieved and the landlords asked to pay.
Specifically, ten stages are planned: In apartments with a particularly poor energy balance (with annual emissions of more than 52 kilograms of CO2 per square meter), the take over
Landlords 90 percent and tenants 10 percent of the CO2 costs. In the further stages, the proportion of landlords decreases. There should be exceptions for listed buildings or in milieu protection areas where landlords cannot easily renovate.
In very efficient buildings with the EH55 energy standard, the tenants ultimately have to bear the additional costs all by themselves. EH55 means the building uses only 55 percent of the energy that a standard home uses. Such new buildings have been subsidized by the state in recent years and are therefore planned more frequently.
Allocation with the heating bill
Tenants should be able to find out which level their own rental apartment falls into in a relatively uncomplicated way every year with the heating bill. Some effort could come to landlords, because they need information about the energy balance, for example. In the future, it should be checked whether the model can be converted to data in the energy certificates.
Incentive for modernization and energy saving at the same time
The federal government wants to create double incentives with the phased model: landlords should be motivated to invest in the energy-efficient renovation of their houses. Because whoever exchanges an old oil heating system for a heat pump or another climate-friendly model has to pay a lower CO2 price. From the point of view of tenant representatives, however, there is also a problem here: Because landlords can currently pass on the costs of such modernization to their tenants. There is therefore a risk that tenants will have to pay their share of the CO2 price and also the modernization.
At the same time, tenants in well-insulated apartments should be motivated to save energy. If the roof and windows are well insulated, the behavior of tenants in particular could help save energy and thus reduce heating costs, said Habeck. Many landlords had argued that they did not want to be solely responsible if the tenant turned up the heating excessively.
What the split means financially
The tenants’ association assumes that a model household in an unrenovated apartment has additional costs of up to 130 euros per year for gas and 190 euros for heating oil due to the CO2 tax. By 2025, they will even rise to 238 euros for gas and 350 euros for heating oil.
According to earlier calculations by the comparison portal Verivox, tenants in a 100 square meter apartment could save up to 122 euros a year if the phased model were implemented – depending on the energy balance of the house. For most tenants, the savings would be between 12 and 72 euros a year.
Tenants’ association for faster relief
The tenants’ association calls for faster relief for tenants. “We cannot understand that the phased model should not come into force until January 1st next year,” said Lukas Siebenkotten, President of the Tenants’ Association, to the “Tagesspiegel”. The new regulation should apply from the middle of the year. The CO2 price in the area of rented living space has so far been a complete non-starter.
Shops and other buildings are exempt
The tiered model should not apply to shops, office buildings and other buildings that are not lived in. Here the costs should be divided equally – unless tenants and landlords agree otherwise in their contract. Buschmann emphasized that freedom of contract is a strong focus here. “The commercial tenants will therefore find the right solutions for them in interaction with negotiations about any rent adjustments that may be necessary.” (dpa)