If I look out of my kitchen window in the morning, I see the windows of the apartment opposite. You can see layers of ice on the inside and extremely damp, no, wet windows. The residents are not willing or able to at least dry the windows from the inside, apparently there is no heating at all. When the first signs of mildew or mold appear, the landlord will receive a letter asking him to please repair the damage. In conversations with property managers, I was told that by mid-December, dozens of emails had already been received with complaints about mold growth. Most of the apartments have not been affected by mold in recent years, the reason seems to be that there was not enough heating and/or ventilation.

Good advice, not only from prime ministers

Not a day goes by without well-intentioned advice on saving energy being spread across all channels. The focus is on the heating behavior due to the enormous increase in energy costs. Sufficient airing, four times a day, lowering the temperature to 19-20 degrees and everything is fine, according to the general recommendations. Unfortunately, that's the theory and has absolutely nothing to do with reality. Many people fear back payments for heating costs that they can no longer afford, so part or all of the apartment remains temporarily or permanently unheated. And opening the windows four times a day for ten minutes is well-intentioned, but is probably more based on the traditional housewife model, because in many cases there is simply no one at home during the day who could ventilate. The consequence could be that mold forms, a horror scenario for both tenants and landlords.

The mold fronts

Mold in rented apartments has been a concern for tenants' and landlords' interest groups and, ultimately, the courts for decades. Countless judgments have been made on this, the common tenor is: if the cause lies in the structural conditions, the owner has the obligation to remedy the situation and a rent reduction is possible. If the behavior of the tenants is the cause, they are responsible for removing it and there is no entitlement to a rent reduction. But as always, it's all about the details.

Structural defects or lack of care

Older buildings with insufficient thermal insulation, thermal bridges, for example due to insufficiently glazed windows, insufficient sealing against the ground, facade damage, water damage, etc. are mostly affected by mold. New buildings that have not been dried long enough can also be affected (new building moisture). In order to identify the actual causes, an expert is usually required. But it was also due to the behavior of the tenants in the past. Sufficient heating and ventilation are elementary to avoid damage.

Do heating subsidies help?

The grants that have already been paid out in some cases will not be enough to absorb the rapidly increasing heating costs for tenants. Low and middle income groups will not be able to cope with the threat of additional payments, so there will be less heating and the risk of damage to buildings will increase massively. What will be the consequences of this vicious circle?

Who pays in the end?

It is to be feared that ultimately the landlords alone will have to pay for the financial consequences of the damage to the building. Politically, the current coalition will not be able to hold the tenants accountable, even if they have caused the damage through their own behavior. Approximately 37 million tenants face around 4 million private landlords, so it doesn't take much to imagine which groups of voters are preferred. It will be exciting to see how this will be done legally. Perhaps a kind of self-defense clause for tenants will be constructed, but whether this will be confirmed or rejected by the courts at some point is another matter.

B. Viebach