German heating regulation — what changes for Landlord has changed.

What German heating regulation regulates

The Heating Costs Ordinance (German heating regulation) regulates how heating and hot water costs must be split among tenants. It applies to buildings with central heating and hot water. Floor heating and single stoves are excluded — anyone heating with a gas combi boiler doesn't fall under the German heating regulation.

Core principle: at least 50%, at most 70% of heating costs must be consumption-based be allocated. The rest goes by living area. Goal: create incentives to save energy.

§ 6a — Monthly consumption info (since 2022)

The most important new duty since 1 January 2022: tenants with remote-readable meters must be informed monthly about their heat and hot water consumption. This is anchored Europe-wide by the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED).

The information must contain:

• Consumption in the current month
• Comparison with the previous month
• Comparison with the same month last year
• Comparison with a standardised average tenant
• Fuel mix and CO₂ emissions
• Contact details of consumer advice centres and energy advisory services

Violations are punished with fines up to €50,000 (German heating regulation). In practice most energy service providers like ista, Techem, Brunata-Metrona and Minol now create monthly consumption information automatically and provide it via API to Rentprime.

§5 — Remote-readable meters by end of 2026

All neu installierten Heat cost allocators and hot water meters must be remotely readable since 1 December 2021. Existing equipment must be by 31. Dezember 2026 be retrofitted or replaced.

"Remotely readable" means: no more tenant visit required for the reading. The data is transmitted to the energy service provider via radio, LoRaWAN or Wi-Fi. This significantly reduces your reading costs and makes §6a compliance practically possible in the first place.

§ 7 — The 50/60/70 split

You can choose between three distribution forms — provided the lease doesn't specify otherwise:

• 50% consumption / 50% area — for very old buildings without adequate insulation
• 60% consumption / 40% area — middle path
• 70% consumption / 30% area — recommended for typical existing buildings

A split outside the 50–70% range is invalid. In case of violation, the tenant can reduce the heating bill by 15% (German heating regulation).

§9 — What happens without consumption meters?

If no meters are present: you must retrofit. As long as that hasn't happened, the tenant may also reduce by 15%. In practice: have remotely readable heat cost allocators installed (approx. €25 each + installation) — the cost is allocatable as operating expense.

Exception: If installation is uneconomical (e.g. only 2 units with shared heating in a 100-year-old building where laying is not justifiable), the German heating regulation may be suspended — justify in writing and document in the lease.

Practical tip: switching between allocation formulas

You can change the split — but not arbitrarily often. Usually a change at the start of a billing year with info to tenants. Important is the written agreement or a clause in the lease that grants you the right to choose.

In Rentprime you set the split pro Objekt in the settings. If you have multiple properties, each can have its own split — e.g. 70/30 in unrenovated old buildings, 50/50 in old houses without consumption metering.

What you should prepare for 2026

• Create a list of all consumption metering devices — which are remotely readable?
• If not yet: appointment with energy service provider for retrofit — by Q3 2026
• Set up monthly consumption information for all tenants with remotely readable meters
• Check contracts with ista/Techem/Brunata-Metrona — do they include § 6a service?
• Evaluate your own software solution like Rentprime that creates § 6a information automatically