According to the statistics portal Statista, around 4.46 million people lived in shared flats in 2016. This is roughly equivalent to the number of people living in a condominium (4.49 million).
However, while the legislator has even created a separate law for condominiums in the form of the WEG, there is a widespread lack of special legal regulations for shared apartments. Even the legal literature has so far only marginally addressed this form of cohabitation.
These findings and the fact that an increasing number of new forms of shared accommodation are emerging (e.g. senior citizens' shared flats) provided the initial impetus for the development of a legal handbook for shared flats. This is expected to be published by Beck-Verlag in the fall.
In preparation for the publication and for an academic discussion of the legal issues surrounding shared flats, the authors organized the symposium "Shared flats - practical issues, legal solutions" at the University of Leipzig from 9 to 10 March.
The conference focused on the classification of shared flats as a partnership under civil law, the various forms of multi-party tenancy and a number of special issues such as non-marital cohabitation in shared flats.
Professor Dr. Erik Hahn dealt with the requirements for the granting of the so-called residential group supplement in accordance with SGB XI (statutory long-term care insurance) in his lecture "Outpatient assisted living groups (care shared flat)". This additional benefit is paid to people who live together in a shared apartment for the purpose of jointly organized nursing care.
Copyright: Jaro.p, CC BY-SA 3.0
Prof. Dr. iur. Erik Hahn
Professorship for Civil Law, Commercial Law and Real Estate Law
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
Faculty of Business Administration and Engineering Management
House Z II, Room 002
Schliebenstraße 21
02763 Zittau
03583 612-4619