Ancillary costs may or may not increase in the future

Result

Many Germans are concerned about the development of future rents. 44 per cent expect warm rents to be twice as high as cold rents within the next 20 years.
There are hardly any differences in the approval rate based on location size or income, but there are differences when comparing age and east/west. One in two people in eastern Germany agree with this statement, while in western Germany "only" 42 per cent agree. There are also differences between the age groups: Among the under-35s, less than one in three expect such a development, while more than half of the over-55s fear rising energy prices and are often concerned about the future of rental costs.

Reasons

Nine cents - that's how much a kilowatt hour of gas currently costs for new customers, which is significantly less than before the start of the war in Ukraine (February 2022 = 13 cents). In June 2021, however, consumers only had to calculate with five cents per kilowatt hour. Overall, gas prices fluctuated greatly last year, ranging from 13 cents per kWh to 40 cents per kWh (August 2022). The cost of heating oil was not spared from price inflation either: at times, the price per litre was more than twice as high as it is currently at over two euros.
The memories of this are still very present in the public perception. Federal government measures such as one-off payments, a price cap and LNG imports have helped to ease the financial burden, but general inflation has nevertheless led to further financial burdens for many households. These have been and continue to be accompanied by reports of dependence on fossil fuels and the associated higher costs. Various forecasts currently assume that it will take 40-50 years until all oil reserves are used up and that all existing oil resources will run out by 2090.
Although most citizens support the necessary energy transition resulting from this, they also fear higher costs due to the expansion of renewable energies and energy efficiency measures.

Forecast

Energy prices will continue to fluctuate in the future, as they are subject to various influencing factors such as supply and demand, the consequences of climate change, political requirements and regulations and global economic developments. Increases in efficiency, innovative heating systems, smart building control systems and government subsidy programmes also play an important role.
In this respect, ancillary costs may, but do not necessarily have to, rise. Irrespective of the cost trend, most people will in any case pay attention to their energy consumption and ecological footprint in future and try to save energy in order to contribute to climate protection and at the same time pay as little utility costs as possible.