On 25 February 2026, the Immobilien Zeitung reported that the leaders of the SPD and CDU/CSU coalition had agreed on the key points of a reform of the so-called Heating Act. The particularly controversial 65% rule for the permissible energy mix in new heating systems is to be abolished. Anyone who needs a new heating system in future will still be able to install a single gas or oil heating system as an alternative to a heat pump or district heating. However, this will be subject to the condition that, from 1 January 2029, these systems use an ‘increasing proportion of CO2-neutral fuels’. Owners will have to choose an energy supplier and a tariff that guarantees this.
This resolves a major point of contention. According to the traffic light coalition government’s bill, based on a draft law by the then Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Robert Habeck (Green Party), owners would have been required to use at least 65 per cent renewable energy for newly installed heating systems from 1 July 2026. ‘Habeck’s heating law is now history, and the boiler room is once again a private matter,’ said Jan-Marco Luczak, spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group for housing, urban development and construction.
It goes on to say that the property owners’ association Haus & Grund welcomed the ‘abolition of the Heating Act’; the decisive factor is that owners can plan again and will be faced with less bureaucracy. The association views the obligation for energy suppliers to ensure ‘an increasing green share in gas and oil in future’ as very positive. Real estate associations such as the Federal Association GdW and the Central Real Estate Committee (ZIA) are relieved ‘that the period of uncertainty is now over’. However, the coalition’s assurance, also included in the key points, that ‘adequate funding for the Federal Efficiency Buildings Programme (BEG) will be guaranteed until at least 2029’ must still be backed up with concrete figures. According to Immobilien Zeitung, the cabinet intends to pass the draft bill for a new building modernisation act based on the key points paper before Easter, which should then come into effect before 1 July 2026.
“From the perspective of the real estate industry, it is very welcome that a practical solution has finally been found here. Rarely has a law caused so much uncertainty and damage to the market as the traffic light coalition’s heating law and the government’s communication on the legislative process at the time,‘ says Jacopo Mingazzini, CEO of The Grounds. ’Clear rules with less bureaucracy are just as urgently needed as reliable framework conditions and sufficient volumes at the BEG.”
