BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - After agreeing on the main features of a future heating law, the SPD is focusing on tenant protection, according to party leader Saskia Esken. A balance must be found that the investment costs are not passed on to the tenants, said Esken on Wednesday in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin". Previously, the president of the German Tenants' Association, Lukas Siebenkotten, had expressed concern about even higher costs for tenants.

A top-level meeting of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP had agreed on Tuesday on significant changes to the original draft building energy law approved by the cabinet. This put an end to weeks of conflict. The bill will now be debated for the first time in the Bundestag on Thursday. It is expected to be passed before the parliamentary summer recess, which begins July 7.

The "very, very good agreement" has brought "the start of the heat turnaround" to the Bundestag, Esken said.

According to the compromise, the Building Energy Act and a Heat Planning Act will now be coupled and both will come into force on January 1, 2024. Anyone connected to a district heating network will no longer have to worry about installing a heat pump, for example. Mandatory municipal heat planning is to be introduced by 2028 at the latest. As long as there is no municipal heating plan, gas heating systems may still be installed when heating systems are replaced - if they can be converted to hydrogen./cjo/DP/mis