Status: 06.07.2022 10:29 am
A housing cooperative near Dresden had announced that it would only provide hot water at certain times. The reason: the high gas prices. Federal Building Minister Geywitz criticized that this was “illegal”.
The announcement by a Saxon housing cooperative to restrict the hot water supply has met with massive criticism in politics. Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) told the newspapers of the Funke media group: “Simply turning off the hot water temporarily is illegal.”
hot water at night? A luxury
According to the Dippoldiswalde housing cooperative in Saxony, in the future it will only heat the water in around 260 of its 600 apartments at certain times and leave the heating switched off until September. This was justified with the increased energy prices.
The full-time board member and managing director Falk Kühn-Meisegeier justified this in the Funke newspapers with the words: “The federal government could have stipulated that the heating had to be switched off from July 1st. He didn’t do that. So let’s go ahead now .” Hot water at night is a luxury that you can no longer afford. In addition, the water is only actually cold in 16 apartments, in the others warm water is stored in the boiler.
Tenants’ association: Reason for a rent reduction
The procedure was also met with criticism in Saxon state politics. A photo of a notice with which the cooperative informed about the move caused a stir on social media.
The German Tenants’ Association pointed out that a lack of hot water was a reason for a rent reduction.
Special feature of a cooperative?
The President of the central association of the housing industry GdW, Axel Gedaschko, defended the approach to the Funke media group with the special feature of a cooperative: “The purpose is energy and cost savings, which should only benefit the members of the cooperative and from which the landlords themselves have nothing. ” However, this is not a model for other housing companies, Gedaschko continues, “because something like this would be inadmissible without prior mutual agreement with the tenants.”