Housing and energy cost burden of renting households

In this project, the circumstances of renting households in Germany are presented. First, the distribution of renting households according to income is considered as well as average values of renting households regarding their income, living space and other housing circumstances (e.g. age of the buildings). The development of the housing and energy cost burden of tenants is also examined. A special focus is placed on low-income households and the increase in the burden between 2021 and 2022.

Since both existing rents and rents for buildings currently offered on the market vary greatly from region to region, the regional distribution of the housing cost burden is also examined in more detail. For this purpose, three cities are selected as examples where the rental market is particularly strained either by high or rising rents: Berlin, Munich and Rostock. The effects of rising rents for buildings on the market are illustrated for individual average households by comparing the housing cost burden between 2021 and 2022.

In a final step, the subsidy requirement for the energy-efficient refurbishment of the worst-performing multi-family houses is estimated and the preconditions for a refurbishment that is neutral in terms of warm rents (amount of the apportioned modernisation costs and energy savings) are examined.