Overview
- The German Tenants’ Association says substantial loss of electricity or heating in winter constitutes a rental defect, with reductions up to 100% possible during a complete outage.
- The right to reduce rent applies regardless of who caused the disruption, including cases of sabotage such as the Berlin cable‑bridge fire at the Lichterfelde plant.
- Tenants are advised to notify landlords immediately in writing, document room temperatures and times, and set a repair deadline before asserting a reduction.
- Guidance notes that outages lasting more than a short period, often cited as about 48 hours, can support a claim, with the rate depending on the duration and severity of the impairment.
- Insurance rarely covers outage or surge damage by default, owner‑occupiers typically bear loss of use themselves, and landlords must remedy issues swiftly or risk penalties, as illustrated by the €50,000 fine in Verden.