Tenants should be able to install AC more easily, says German minister

Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has expressed intentions to amend German rental laws so that it is easier for tenants to install air conditioners.

Hubig wants easier AC installation for tenants

In an interview with Rheinische Post, Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has said she wants to amend German rental laws to make it easier for tenants to “equip their apartments with air conditioning or sun visors”.

“Conventional legal policy can also make a contribution to heat protection,” Hubig told the newspaper. “I am thinking about tenancy laws in particular.”

Summer 2026 saw Germany break its all-time heat record when 41,8 degrees was recorded in Saxony-Anhalt in late June. Even between the heatwaves that followed in July and August, temperatures over 30 degrees persisted.

“At this point, we’ve lost count of how many times the 35-degree mark has been broken this year,” the German Weather Service (DWD) told Handelsblatt recently. 

According to the latest estimates from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) 14.000 people have died from heat-related causes, such as organ failure or heat stroke, in Germany in 2026 so far.

Currently, tenants have no legal right to install built-in air conditioning or external shades in their rented homes and can do so only with their landlord's permission.

Hubig supports climate clause in constitution

Speaking to Rheinische Post, Hubig also expressed support for her party’s recent proposal to enshrine a “joint mission for climate adaptation and nature conservation” in the German constitution (Basic Law or Grundgesetz).

State governments and municipalities are currently responsible for implementing heat protection policies; enshrining climate protection in the constitution would mean responsibility would be shared between federal and state governments.

“This would make it easier for the government to give states and municipalities sustained support in heat-protection measures,” Hubig told the newspaper.

The four-page proposal also includes a “heat action plan” that would change urban planning laws, construction codes, and labour laws. The proposal has so far faced pushback from the leading CDU/CSU, who warn that the measures will be too expensive. 

According to a 2023 study by the German Institute for Ecological Economic Research, Prognos and GWS, extreme weather caused by climate change could cost the federal republic 900 billion euros in cumulative economic damage by 2050, unless further climate protection measures are urgently adopted.