Munich’s rental hotspots: Where the housing situation is particularly tense – Munich

Rising interest rates, construction costs and a shortage of skilled workers may slow down the pace at which investors are structurally and socially transforming the city for the time being, while protecting long-established tenants from being pushed out, but the construction slack cannot in the long term. At the same time, it aggravates the hardships of thousands of students, as can be seen above all in the once exemplary student town in Freimann, which is now dramatically dilapidated and partly orphaned. There, in Haidhausen and in the trendy Gärtnerplatz district, there are focal points presented by the Munich Tenants’ Association as part of an annual information tour, which representatively show the complexity of the crisis, but at the same time also the variety of initiatives in which affected tenants have joined forces.

A residential building built in 1957 at Klenzestraße 15 is a classic case, located in a residential area that, despite the catchy name and the central location, has a relatively large number of unrenovated old buildings. The house was originally rented socially for 39 years, later freely for 39 years by the owner family, who held back on renovations, but also on their rent demands. It was then sold three years ago – and two more times since then. The current owners, a married couple who bought another house on southern Klenzestraße, are planning, as their lawyer Claudius Artz emphasized to the SZ, above all the necessary energy renovation of the apartments, but financed by converting the top floor into a luxury residence with roof terrace.

This is accessed by an elevator, which in turn means that the apartments underneath have to be combined and enlarged, making it completely unaffordable for the remaining eight existing tenants. Beatrix Zurek, chairman of the tenants’ association, believes that the “eviction notices” threatened according to tenants are hardly legally enforceable. But they remained a means of psychological pressure. The tenants’ community is defending its right to a city home here, not to “cheap living around,” Zurek indirectly countered with the owner’s attorney, who told the SZ that rents around ten euros in this location were “illusory”. In addition, reports tenant spokesman Andreas Schmitz, the owners asked the tenants why they hadn’t bought their apartments long ago.

With a “Yes, why not?” meanwhile, the actually cynical question is answered at Wörthstraße 8 in chic Haidhausen. Here, the residents of a listed building that is almost 130 years old have made good progress after a few setbacks in the attempt to buy half of the property themselves – the other now belongs to a Swiss foundation with a claim to sustainability. After they were able to wrest promises from the owner about price deferrals, 3.25 million euros would be due for going to the notary. The community has currently collected commitments for around 150 private direct loans totaling a good 2.25 million euros – from ten euros from the pocket money of a young resident to a large loan of over one million.

In the student city, the residents would have nothing against densification.

(Photo: Mark Siaulys Pfeiffer)

The remaining residents of the Studentenstadt (StuSta) in Freimann can only dream of such generous financing commitments, as well as of the revitalization of their seemingly deserted district. This was depopulated not least by the fire in the so-called Red House in February 2021. The other large buildings in the “Neustadt” were then examined and largely declared uninhabitable in terms of fire and health protection. Almost 1300 residential places are empty, even if the centrally located house 10 with its 62 places also occupied by families will be vacated in September.

The student union responsible here expressly defends TU student Sebastian Rein against accusations on behalf of the newly founded working group on housing, as it is chronically underfunded. The Free State will contribute 40,000 euros per living space, the renovation of which costs at least 120,000 euros in the existing building and 180,000 euros in the new building, the AK activists calculate. As a result of the evictions from the houses, the Studi-Werk got caught in a “swirl” of missing rental income and the resulting further deterioration of the stock, says Rein.

The students are correspondingly skeptical about the contract with the state-owned Bayernheim to renovate a total of 1056 residential spaces in the two largest houses by 2028 for 150 million euros. With the appropriate financing, the StuSta in particular would offer a unique opportunity for Munich, since its residents expressly wish for a densification. Not only the already discussed complete replacement for house 10, but also the wastefully low two-storey buildings of the “old town” in the south of the quarter could be raised up to the technical high-rise limit of eight floors. Without sealing, the settlement could be expanded from 2,500 to 4,500 living spaces, as prospective architects from the TU show in an unofficial study.

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