Saxony
Cooperative temporarily turns off hot water for tenants
A housing cooperative informs its tenants on a notice that hot water is only available to a limited extent. The letter finds its way onto the Internet – the outrage is great. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Warm water only at certain times – a housing cooperative in Dippoldiswalde, Saxony, has decided to do this. Reason: the high energy prices. Now politics is getting involved.
According to Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD), a housing cooperative should not turn off the hot water for its tenants in order to save energy. “Simply turning off the hot water temporarily is illegal,” Geywitz told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
The Dippoldiswalde housing cooperative in Saxony had previously decided to only provide hot water at peak times in the morning, midday and evening, citing the increased energy prices as the reason for this.
The procedure was met with criticism, among other things, 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 warm water was a reason for a rent reduction.
Housing industry defends action
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.”