Energy crisis: Vonovia housing group throttles tenant heating - hundreds of locations affected

Created: 07/08/2022 05:29

By: Stella Henrich

Many consumers now fear sitting in cold apartments next winter.

Some landlords even want to turn the heating down to 17 degrees at night for tenants in the near future.

Bochum/Dresden/Munich - One would like to be outraged by this report.

According to a report by

, the real estate group Vonovia wants to throttle its tenants' gas central heating between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

Then the radiators should heat up to no more than 17 degrees.

The reason given by the company is that it wants to make a contribution to saving natural gas by optimizing the operation of its plants in the preliminary stages of a gas emergency.

The hot water supply is not affected.

The Bochum real estate giant owns around 565,000 apartments at around 400 locations in Germany.

Difficult times call for difficult decisions.

The energy crisis is an enormous effort for all citizens of the country.

The only question is, can the crisis still be overcome with "voluntary participation" or do we need "regulations by law" that apply to everyone?

© Sascha Steinach/imago

, the housing group “Deutsche Wohnen” is

already examining ways of saving gas.

One step further is already Dippoldiswalde in Saxony.

A housing association now only provides hot water to tenants at peak times in the morning, at noon and in the evening, citing higher energy prices as the reason for this.

The same major landlord will turn off the heating in his 300 houses by September.

The residents were informed of the measures with a notice.

Merkur.de reported about it.

Energy crisis: A look at the rental agreement helps

The outcry among citizens at this action by the corporations was enormous on social media.

There is talk of necessity.

Angry users advise the affected tenants to sue.

In any case, it is worth taking a look at the rental agreement to see whether this procedure is legal at all.

Because freezing, because the owner orders it on his own, is not justifiable.

Sebastian Bartel from the Berlin Tenants' Association explains that such measures cannot simply be decided by the board of a cooperative.

The decision of the general meeting is therefore missing.

According to the expert, the tenant has the right to defend himself in court.

Energy crisis: action by corporations is highly questionable

And what does politics say about the measures?

Daniel Fürst, housing policy spokesman for the FDP, is clearly in favor of energy saving measures.

Everyone can contribute.

But Fürst considers this approach by the corporations to be highly questionable.

"Hanging a notice in the building overnight, unsettling people and then turning off the hot water is the wrong approach," says Fürst.

Freezing by instruction from the owner is not justifiable.

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Bartel adds that the state and the municipalities are allowed to order such measures.

Then the landlord would also have to enforce this, which means that the tenancy law is of secondary importance in such a case.

But it's not that far, the expert continues.

The German Tenants' Association points out that a lack of hot water is a reason for a rent reduction. 

Energy crisis: What answers are politicians giving

The question that remains is how politicians are preparing for the energy crisis so that people in this country don't have to sit by candlelight in cold apartments in the future and there will be a flood of court cases at the same time.

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) wants to ensure the gas supply in Germany by all means.

In the ZDF program "Markus Lanz" Habeck said: "We are not just passive.

We don't have to stand by in amazement at what's happening there." Ultimately, it was also possible to maintain security of supply in Germany despite a 60 percent reduction in gas supplies.

But the question remains, at what price?

What does that mean for consumers?

According to the Green Minister, the price increases in autumn and winter are in the four-digit range per household.

And that could be a monthly income for a family.

And if the will to save alone is not enough, then regulations will be made, Habeck continued in an interview with Markus Lanz.

"Then we will no longer talk about voluntariness," said the minister.

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