(de-news.net) – Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has indicated that the Federal Government intends to strengthen tenant safeguards against rising energy-related housing costs as the debate over Germany’s planned heating-law reform continues. Hubig explained that tenant protection would constitute a central pillar of the forthcoming legislative framework and noted that her ministry had already begun translating the conceptual guidelines of a proposed Building Modernization Act into concrete and legally binding statutory provisions. In outlining the government’s approach, she emphasized that renters should be shielded from disproportionate increases in ancillary housing costs and that the financial burden associated with domestic heating must not become excessive. This concern, she argued, carries particular significance in Germany’s housing market, where more than half of the population resides in rented accommodation and therefore remains directly exposed to fluctuations in energy-related operating expenses.
These statements were made within the broader context of a policy adjustment recently agreed upon by the parliamentary groups of the governing coalition in the Bundestag. As part of the planned reform, the coalition parties endorsed a substantial relaxation of the regulatory framework governing the replacement of residential heating systems. The revised approach would remove the existing requirement that newly installed heating systems must generate at least 65 percent of their heat from renewable energy sources, a rule that had previously served as a central component of Germany’s heating transition strategy. In its place, the proposed regulatory framework would permit the continued installation of gas- and oil-based systems, provided that such systems operate with gradually increasing shares of alternative fuels. Under this model, newly installed systems would be required to utilize a rising proportion of biogas or synthetic fuels over time, thereby maintaining a degree of alignment with longer-term decarbonization objectives while easing immediate compliance obligations for property owners.
Schneider calls for balance between climate policy and tenant protection
The legislative initiative has also prompted renewed debate within the SPD regarding the scope and strength of tenant protection measures that should accompany the reform. Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) has signaled that the party’s support for the revised regulatory framework would depend on the inclusion of robust safeguards designed to prevent renters from being disproportionately affected by the costs associated with heating-system transitions. In referencing earlier remarks by SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch, Schneider indicated that the party viewed a balanced solution—one that reconciles climate policy goals with the interests of Germany’s millions of tenants—as a prerequisite for its approval of the legislation. He argued that tenants typically lack decision-making authority over the type of heating systems installed in their buildings and therefore should not be required to assume the financial risks associated with technologies that may prove costly to operate. From this perspective, he suggested that shifting a greater share of those risks to property owners would create stronger incentives for landlords to invest in heating technologies with lower long-term operating costs, such as heat pumps, thereby advancing both social fairness and climate-policy objectives simultaneously.
At the same time, the reform proposals have provoked substantial criticism from opposition parties, which have questioned both the substance of the changes and their potential social consequences. Heidi Reichinnek, the parliamentary leader of the Left Party, characterized the proposed amendments to the Building Modernization Act as misguided and warned that they could impose considerable additional financial pressures on tenants. She argued that renters remain particularly vulnerable within the current framework because they generally have no influence over the selection of heating systems in their buildings while nevertheless bearing a significant share of the resulting operating costs. In her assessment, the reform could therefore leave tenants exposed to the effects of rising gas prices unless stronger protective mechanisms are introduced. Reichinnek also criticized the Social Democratic Party’s negotiating strategy with the conservative parties, suggesting that the SPD had initially participated in shaping the reform framework before subsequently highlighting the need for stronger tenant protections within the same policy initiative.
According to the Federal Government’s current timetable, a formal draft of the Building Modernization Act is expected to be submitted to the cabinet by Easter. The legislative package is also anticipated to include parallel amendments to the German Civil Code, through which tenant-protection provisions connected to heating-system modernization and replacement are to be codified. These complementary legal adjustments are intended to ensure that the broader heating-policy reform is accompanied by explicit statutory safeguards addressing the distribution of costs between landlords and tenants.
Audio: TTSFree
