Status: 09/20/2022 07:37 a.m
Increased ancillary costs make housing unaffordable for many. The Federal Association of German housing and real estate companies now promises protection against dismissal for defaulting tenants. That’s not enough for the German Tenants’ Association.
The Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW) has promised protection against dismissal during the energy crisis. “As in the course of the corona pandemic, the socially oriented housing companies will not terminate the energy crisis due to late payment of the utility bills,” said the President of the Federal Association of GdW, Axel Gedaschko, to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Nobody should lose their apartment because of crisis-related payment problems. Installment payments should be agreed with the tenants. The GdW represents around 3,000 housing companies in Germany, in whose apartments 13 million people live.
GdW boss demands gas price cap
However, Gedaschko also emphasized that the effects of the energy crisis could not be solved with the means of tenancy law. The government should finally tackle the root of the problem and introduce a gas price cap. According to the GdW boss, this is the simplest way to prevent price increases from reaching companies and consumers.
The Union, the left, trade unions and economists are also demanding a gas price cap. Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck has so far rejected such a concept, referring to the federal government’s relief packages.
Tenants’ association wants a moratorium on terminations
The President of the German Tenants’ Association, Lukas Siebenkotten, welcomed the move, but does not consider it sufficient. “What we really need is a moratorium on terminations, like the one that came into force at the beginning of the corona pandemic,” the president of the tenants’ association told the newspapers.
At the beginning of the pandemic, tenants could not be evicted if they were unable to pay their rent between April and June 2020 due to the pandemic.
Geywitz proposes a grace period for layoffs
Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz had also proposed extending the grace period to include notices of termination. Judges also repeatedly point out that the current regulation does not make sense: In the case of terminations without notice, tenants have the opportunity to repair the situation with additional payments, but not in the case of terminations within the period specified. “The grace period should apply to both situations,” said Siebenkotten.