Berlin: The landlord lets the house degenerate – and is not available

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Dilapidated house in Berlin
Landlord expands the elevator – older residents can no longer leave their apartment

The elevator in the house in Berlin can no longer be used (symbol image)

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4/12/2022, 6:31 p.m

2 min reading time

Catastrophic situation in a Berlin residential building: The elevator doesn’t work, and the building is otherwise in a bad condition. The landlord doesn’t seem to care.

Even from the outside, the building on Kulmer Strasse in Berlin’s Schöneberg district is uninviting. The facade is covered by a huge scaffolding, although there is no indication that the building is actually under construction. Inside it gets even more uncomfortable, as the RBB reports.

In a contribution from the broadcaster, among other things, an elderly resident has her say. She hasn’t left her apartment on the fourth floor since the landlord removed the elevator six months ago and no longer bothered to replace it. “I have two artificial knees and I can’t walk well,” she explains – so the stairs are out of the question for the elderly lady.

House in Berlin degenerates – the landlord doesn’t care

So she is trapped in her apartment. You can’t take garbage down, “I can’t even get bread,” says Marie M. So that the garbage doesn’t stink too much, she puts the full garbage bags on the balcony. Other residents are also affected by the problem – even though a share for the elevator is still deducted from the rent.



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Overall, the house is more and more degenerate. As the RBB shows, the basement is also completely littered. It’s raining in the stairwell. Apparently no one cares about the grievances. And the tenants don’t seem to know who to turn to with their problems either: There is simply no property management, says one resident.

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Invest in the renovation yourself If you, as a tenant, want to implement major renovation measures, such as installing new windows, get together with your landlord and talk about possible compensatory measures. In certain cases it can be worth investing in your rental apartment or house yourself. It would be conceivable, for example, to negotiate a deal with the landlord that you would bear the costs yourself and in return the landlord would waive a rent increase in the coming years. All measures should be contractually recorded.

Invest in the renovation yourself
If you as a tenant want to implement major renovation measures, such as installing new windows, sit down with your landlord and talk about possible compensatory measures. In certain cases it can be worth investing in your rental apartment or house yourself. It would be conceivable, for example, to negotiate a deal with the landlord that you would bear the costs yourself and in return the landlord would waive a rent increase in the coming years. All measures should be contractually recorded.

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According to the Berlin rental association, the failed elevator is already a reason for a rent reduction of 15 to 18 percent of the rent including heating. However, the real estate company cannot be reached – they apparently simply leave the tenants in the dilapidated house to their fate.

Source: RBB evening show

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