Some people may have been shocked to find a reminder from the municipal housing company Münchner Wohnen in the mail these days, along with a pink “information sheet on late payment”. In it, the company pointed out the possibility of immediate termination if someone fell behind on two months’ rent. Anyone who is in financial need and needs advice or help can get this from the specialist office for preventing homelessness; A list of social housing centers was on the back.
Managing director Christian Müller tried to counteract the impression that tenants of Münchner Wohnen (MW) are at risk of homelessness if they do not meet their payment obligations at a media round on Friday. “Münchner Wohnen will live up to its social responsibility,” promised the former SPD city councilor and reassured: “There will be no one who loses their apartment because of the additional costs.”
Müller currently has to smooth things over that have arisen from the sometimes considerable additional demands for operating and additional cost bills for 2022. These result from the increase in gas prices caused by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The situation is a bit confusing because Münchner Wohnen has only existed since January; it was created from the merger of the municipal housing companies Gewofag and GWG, which had existed until then. The MW was born with the trouble over the billing for 2022, in this case from the GWG. Because it is primarily their tenants who are now affected by additional demands of up to 3,000 euros.
Not only the Left/Die Party city council faction has taken on the issue, the Munich Tenants’ Association is also dealing with it, as its chairwoman Beatrix Zurek confirms. The association has already requested access to the receipts for a “significant number” of its members. “It’s always a good idea to check the additional demands,” advises Zurek. If the sums are out of the usual range, you should see whether they are still appropriate. If this is not the case, one must “enter into an exchange and, if in doubt, clarify the matter in court.”
The MW is open to discussions, its representatives assured on Friday. The tenants are already being met “very, very well,” emphasized Müller. So far, more than 6,000 installment payments have been agreed, even beyond the usual three-month period: “We’re not leaving anyone out in the cold.”
The managing director also admitted to communication breakdowns. The GWG telephone system was not designed to handle the high number of inquiries about billing that occurred towards the end of last year. That’s why many callers didn’t get through. “I can assure you that this issue has been resolved,” said Müller; The tenants would get answers to all their questions.
The main question that raised questions was the fact that GWG concluded a new gas supply contract with Stadtwerke München (SWM) in November 2021. Instead of an annual fixed price, it now includes a quarterly adjustment to the stock market price, which resulted in a kilowatt hour of gas becoming ten times more expensive in the last quarter of 2022. Christian Decker, who is responsible for business customers at SWM, defended the housing company by saying that this could not have been foreseen when the contract was signed. The gas price had already “developed dynamically upwards” in autumn 2021, but the Ukraine war and its consequences could not have been expected. With the flexible contract, GWG at least got the chance to benefit from cheaper prices again.