The German Tenants' Association has criticized the coalition plans for splitting the CO2 price as insufficient.

"The planned regulation of a staged model is a small step forward for tenants, because in many cases tenants no longer have to pay the CO2 price on their own," said Lukas Siebenkotten, President of the Tenants' Association, to the editorial network Germany (RND).

"However, it remains error-prone, non-transparent and due to numerous exceptions for landlords, one cannot speak of a nationwide relief for tenants."

Unfortunately, particularly in tense housing markets with high rents, little relief can be expected, since, for example, landlords in milieu protection areas could be completely exempt from cost sharing, said Siebenkotten.

Bundestag should before decision

The traffic light coalition had previously agreed that tenants would no longer have to bear the CO2 price for heating alone.

A phased model is planned, which will be passed in the Bundestag this Thursday and will come into force on January 1st.

The CO2 price is a kind of climate tax on fuel, heating oil and natural gas, which is intended to help reduce climate-damaging carbon dioxide emissions.

So far, tenants have to carry them alone.

The SPD, Greens and FDP had long since agreed that landlords would have to get involved from next year – all the more so the less climate-friendly their house is.

But recently the FDP stopped the project with reference to the burden on landlords in the energy crisis.

Landlords demand end of contract

Kai Warnecke, President of the Haus & Grund owners' association, warned the RND: "The prices for gas and oil are so high that there is no need for a guiding CO2 price.

The traffic light coalition should have suspended CO2 pricing completely if they really wanted to relieve the burden on citizens.” The fact that costs will be shared between tenants and landlords in the coming year will only make things worse.

For the four million small private landlords in particular, this means additional bureaucracy without any effect on climate policy.

This is pure government patronage, which makes living in Germany more expensive.

The phased model envisages that landlords should pay 95 percent of the CO2 price for houses with very high greenhouse gas emissions per square meter, while tenants with very low emissions would have to bear the costs themselves.

This should encourage landlords to make energy-saving refurbishments and tenants to save energy.