October 12, 2022, 3:50 am | Read time: 2 minutes
If the heating system is replaced, it can indeed lead to a rent increase. However, it’s important for tenants to know whether it was a repair or a modernization. The significant difference lies in the financial impact.
Does replacing the heating system automatically mean a rent increase for tenants? For laypeople, this is not an easy question to answer. Rental law experts clearly distinguish between modernization and repair. This distinction ultimately determines whether tenants will have to pay more rent after the heating system is replaced. But when does it qualify as one form of renovation or the other?
The Difference Between Repair and Modernization of a Heating System
The landlord is generally responsible for maintenance and its costs. Only the costs for modernization measures can be passed on to tenants through the so-called modernization rent increase. However, this is capped at eight percent of the incurred costs per year.
Maintenance measures are those that serve to maintain or restore the functionality of a heating system. “Modernizations are construction measures that increase the utility value of the rental property or help save energy,” says Jutta Hartmann from the German Tenants’ Association.
If a landlord, for example, replaces the heating system and thereby avoids necessary maintenance work, these saved costs must be proportionally deducted. Even if maintenance work is carried out as part of the modernization, these costs are excluded from the rent increase.
Landlords Have a Duty to Provide Proof for Cost Allocation
“The saved maintenance shares that must be deducted from the modernization costs need to be estimated and clearly presented,” says Hartmann. To determine the deduction, one must know the purchase date, the date of replacement, and the typical technical lifespan of the heating system. According to Hartmann, reference points for the lifespan can be found in tables from experts or architects.
Also of interest: Is it sensible to turn off the heating completely at night?
If a landlord increases the rent after replacing a heating system, they are required, according to Hartmann, to prove that the conditions for the rent increase are met, that the amount of allocable costs is correct, and that “the costs underlying the rent increase are not based on maintenance measures.” Those who need help reviewing the modernization rent increase can contact a local tenants’ association or consumer center, for example.
With material from dpa