Status: 12.10.2023, 20:30 PM
By: Andrea Stettner
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If the heating stays cold in winter, it can be uncomfortable for tenants. Often, there is a lack of rent – and the rent may be reduced.
As soon as the heating system doesn't work, tenants usually have the short end of the stick: they have to rely on the landlord to have the heating repaired or otherwise ensure that the apartment gets warm again soon. If this does not happen, there may be a rent deficiency that entitles the rent to be reduced. But in which cases can part of the rent be withheld – and how much?
When is there a lack of rent because the heating does not work?
If the heating fails, there may be a lack of rent. The rent may then be reduced. © Daniel Ingold/Imago
According to the mietrecht.com, a rental deficiency due to the heating can exist if either the heating fails completely or certain minimum room temperatures are not reached. On the one hand, because the apartment cannot be heated properly if the heating system is defective, and on the other hand, an apartment that is too cold promotes mold growth. Therefore, it is often possible to reduce the rent in these cases.
Even in the case of a heating system that emits knocking and thus disturbing noises, there may be a reason for a lack of rent.
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What minimum temperatures must be able to be reached in the apartment?
Unless otherwise stated in the rental agreement, the heating season usually runs from 1 October to 30 April of each year. According to the German Tenants' Association (DMB), it should be possible to achieve a minimum temperature of 20 and 22 degrees Celsius in the apartment during this time. However, this so-called "comfort temperature" is only relevant in the period from six o'clock in the morning to eleven o'clock in the evening. During the night-time subsidence, a temperature of 18 degrees is sufficient. According to the Tenants' Association, lease clauses to the contrary are invalid. But: "A rent reduction with regard to heating that is based on an inappropriate room temperature must be determined individually in any case," says an article by mietrecht.com.
What do I do if there is a lack of rent due to the heating?
If the tenant becomes aware of the rent deficiency, he must report it to the landlord. The landlord is then obliged to remedy the defect. As long as this is not resolved, the tenant can reduce the rent, i.e. pay less. And this is from the moment he reported the defect to the landlord. A retroactive rent reduction is only possible in exceptional cases. A protocol with time information can be important here to prove the lack of rent.
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How much can the rent be reduced?
However, there is no blanket regulation on the percentage by which the rent may be reduced, as the cases must always be evaluated individually. For orientation, the portal mietrecht.com lists the following reduction rates from past jurisdictions:
- Room temperature between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius: up to 50 percent
- Total heating failure: up to 100 percent
- Low heating failure: up to 10 percent
The tenants' association assumes a rent reduction of 18 percent for rooms in which only 20 degrees are reached in winter. "If it remains cold in the apartment for a long time, there is even a risk of damage to health, the tenant is also entitled to terminate the tenancy without notice," it says on Mieterbund.de.
Landlords are obliged to turn on the heating as soon as the outside temperatures drop below 12 degrees for three days in a row – even in summer. Therefore, even in the summer months, there may be a lack of rent due to room temperatures not being reached or a failed heating system. If the radiator does not get warm, it can already help to bleed the heater.