Rent increases to cover utility costs

My landord who lives above me has decided to increase my rent, and I have only lived in the apartment for the last 17 months! He has increased the Betrieb and Nebenkosten from Euro 100 to 125. I have recently connected to DSL and it appears it is going to work more expensive than I expected.

Before I start selling my body I would like to find another way of dealing with the extra costs!

What have been others experience and welcome any suggestions!

BigCityGirl

if he increases the monthly nebenkosts, then that just means no big surprises at the end of the year, when they measure how much water and heating you used. Sometimes that can mean an extra 300-500 Euro per year you have to pay, so it all works out in the end.
I would rather that my apartment owners would increase my monthly nebenkoste so I don't have to pay that big bill at the end of the year. In July I got my 2004 year end bill of 380 Euro, then in August they gave my 2005 bill of 360. Tapped out my bank account. So, I would rather do the extra 25 a month. (and I don't even put the heaters on- it doesn't get cold enough here to turn the heaters on!).
Remember that heating and water costs have risen in the last 2 years.

Money saving tips- eat at cheaper places, Hofbraukeller has a nice menu for 5.50 at the moment, order beer instead of cocktails ( still trying to do that), bus instead of taxis, shop at Penny or Plus as its generally cheaper than Tengelmann or Rewe. I cut out running to Rewe for a lunch salad (costing about 3Euro per day) by buying fresh stuff and making a salad at the office. Tuesday night movies instead of Friday night- they are cheaper. Dinner party at home instead with a bottle of wine or self made cocktails still alot cheaper than going out, have been doing that with some other friends lately and makes for a great evening at home. Not saying you overspend, but I understand that every extra bill every month takes a chunk out of the 'disposable' cash.

Nebenkosten are not your rent but rather the costs of services that you use, such as heating and hot water (which as Carm says, have increased substantially over the last couple of years), sewage, care of the garden, etc.: depending on how big your flat is, 100€ - 125€ sounds reasonable. You don't have to increase the amount you pay monthy, it's effectively a suggestion based on your consumption last year and your landlord's calculation of how much the costs for those services have increased. However, as Carm says, if you decided not to increase your monthly payment, you could get hit with a big bill to pay next year. On the assumption that your 100€ was too low already (did you have to pay anything extra this year?), then you can reckon with 300€ more to pay on top next year, if you don't increase your monthly payment to 125€ as your landlord suggests.

Just to recap, Nebenkosten are not a part of your rent - your rent is the price for the flat "cold", i.e. without any services. Having said that, the charges for the Nebenkosten have increased so much in recent years, that even the Germans have taken to calling them a second rent!

i don't get your complaint. prices go up. rent (or in this case Nebenkosten) goes up. You say you've been there for almost 1.5 years, actually, you said 'only', but 1.5 years is not a short period of time. I could see complaining if you moved in 2months ago, but after almost 1.5 years an increase doesn't seem absurd.

the problem is that in Germany utility costs are run through the landlord rather than you dealing directly with the company. That's why it seems so confusing. It would make more sense to have the utilities sent directly to the tennant but that's too easy.

I disagree, Tim Horton's Man. As has already been mentioned by others, we're not just talking electricity/heating here. The Nebenkosten include things like cleaning the stairs, servicing the (gas) chimneys, Hausmeister activities like changing bulbs in the building, cleaning they garden/yard, rubbish collection, sweeping snow off the front of the building...and many more.

Do you really think it would be easier if each of these companies were forced to split all of these bills among all the tenants, accounting for anyone moving in or out during the billing period..or for the tenants to receive separate bills from each of these companies?
That sort of system can work in a free-standing house where there are maybe max. three families and little fluctuation, but in a larger inner city building it would be total chaos if every single utility had to be paid for directly by each tenant.

That's the way it works anywhere else, utilties are allways billed separate. BTW Nebenkosten is really just condo fees, and in Canada/US those are paid by the owner and reflected in the rent. Depending on the type of unit utilites may or may not be included. Usually in apartments all utitlies (heat electircity etc are included in the rent). That's less common in Europe because most people live in apartments not houses. In Madrid we pay rent plus utilites, community fees (nebenkosten) are the responsiblity of the owner. When we rented out our place I didnt' bother with nebenkosten. Charged enough rent to cover the mortgage and the condo fees (hausgeld) I don't know the Germany regulations so it was easier simply to charge a higher rent and not bother with nebenkosten.

Got a huge shock today when I opened up our anunal statement for the hausgeld. IT ACUTALLY WENT DOWN. This never happens it always goes up, I've got a guthaben of 250€ or 22 a month, very nice Christmas present. Our tennats must use almost no water because it dropped almost a 100€ over the previous year. (water is the only thing that is billed in the hausgeld) even adjusting for water (8€ a month) is was still a big drop. While be a nice Christmas present for the tennats as well becuase we added 25 a month to the rent to cover water, so they'll get a bit back as well

also got hit with an end of year bill, along with a rent/nebenkosten increase of close on 50 euros per month...

was just wondering if I legally have to pay this increase each month, or if it is just actually a 'suggestion'...basically im much happier paying the extra 400 or 500 at the end of the year in one lump sum, rather than paying it month by month...is this possible.