Berlin The traffic light government’s plans to relieve many tenants of the heating cost climate tax are met with sharp criticism from consumer advocates. Thomas Engelke, head of the energy and building team at the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV), warns the Handelsblatt that tenants could face a “considerable imbalance”. They are already under a lot of financial pressure due to the energy price crisis.
“The federal government must therefore do more to take the pressure off the boiler and to share the costs more fairly,” Engelke continued.
It is incomprehensible why tenants in buildings in the lowest energy category should pay ten percent of the CO2 price, while landlords in buildings in the best category no longer have to bear any costs.
The background is a draft law on the allocation of carbon dioxide costs, which is to be passed by the federal cabinet this Wednesday. According to this, landlords are to take over part of the so-called CO2 price from next year. This price, which has been levied since 2021, makes heating and refueling more expensive and is intended to help reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions.
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A price of 30 euros per tonne of CO2 emitted when heating and fuel is burned currently applies. It should gradually increase to up to 55 euros in 2025. So far, these costs have been borne by the tenants.
VZBV: Tenants should pay a maximum of 50 percent of the price
From 2023, the cost allocation between tenants and landlords is to be based on a ten-stage model. In the case of houses with very high carbon dioxide emissions per square meter, landlords would therefore pay 90 percent of the CO2 price, with very low emissions tenants would pay the costs themselves.
The VZBV, on the other hand, calls for a solution with which the tenants bear a maximum of half of the CO2 costs. “The step-by-step model for cost allocation proposed by the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Economics does not do justice to this, nor is it plausible,” said Engelke. Rather, it will mean that the majority of tenants will continue to have to pay the bulk of the CO2 price, even though they have no influence on the heating system or the energy standard of their apartment.
According to the government plans, tenants and landlords should find out the necessary data on carbon dioxide emissions via the heating bill. Energy suppliers will have to collect and report these in the future.
According to earlier information, the tenants’ association assumes that a model household in an unrenovated apartment will have additional costs of up to 130 euros a year for gas and 190 euros for heating oil as a result of the new CO2 tax. By 2025, the additional costs will even rise to 238 euros for gas and 350 euros for heating oil. These costs are what the allocation is about.
According to calculations by the comparison portal Verivox, tenants of a 100 square meter apartment in the most efficient category of the tiered model would have to bear costs of around 33 euros per year alone. In an equally large apartment of the least efficient level (i.e. with particularly high energy consumption), tenants would pay around 16 euros per year and landlords around 140 euros.
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In the case of buildings in which no one lives, the costs should initially be divided equally. In the medium term, however, a phased model is also planned here. In addition, the following should apply: If state regulations significantly restrict the possibilities for energy-related renovations for owners, then they have to contribute less or not at all to the CO2 price.
It may be a question of monument protection requirements that may prevent the walls from being insulated. Or the situation in so-called milieu protection areas, where there are stricter requirements for changes in appearance.
The idea behind it: The regulation should create incentives for renovation – and that requires that landlords can also change something. The homeowners’ association Haus & Grund, on the other hand, warns against imposing additional costs on the landlords, which may mean that there is no money for the energy-related refurbishment.
IW economist: Users determine energy consumption through their behavior
Michael Voigtländer, real estate economist at the German Economic Institute (IW) in Cologne, thinks little of the division. The CO2 price should always be borne by the users, because they determine the energy consumption through their behavior, according to Voigtländer.
It should also not be forgotten that, precisely because of pressure from tenants, many housing companies have postponed renovations. However, according to the economist, it is important that the income from the CO2 tax then flows back to the tenants, depending on their income, in order to avoid social hardship.
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The Federal Association of Free Real Estate and Housing Companies (BFW) criticized the phased model as a “bureaucracy monster” with little or no steering effect. By sharing the CO2 costs, tenants are less motivated to reduce their own consumption, it said.
The central association of the housing industry GdW has meanwhile called again for the CO2 tax to be suspended for a limited period of one year in view of the sharp rise in energy prices. “The purpose of the CO2 tax is a control effect for the consumer and the landlord,” said GdW President Axel Gedaschko. However, many people could no longer afford many things in their everyday life because of the high energy prices.
At the same time, landlords would face exploding costs for the maintenance and modernization of their houses. The CO2 tax is an additional but avoidable burden on people.
Once the cabinet has approved the plans, a final decision by the Bundestag is required. The regulation should apply from 2023 – and thus half a year later than the SPD, Greens and FDP had planned in the coalition agreement. Actually, the traffic light partners had already targeted a new regulation for June 1st.
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