Ice-cold savings plan for Munich: heating for tenants throttled - the first real estate giant reacts
Created: 07/08/2022, 06:45
By: Claudia Schuri
The real estate group Vonovia turns down the heating for its tenants.
Thousands of people are also affected in Munich.
And express their concerns.
Munich – It will not only be an expensive winter for Munich residents, but also a cold one!
Energy prices are skyrocketing, and many fear that gas could become scarce.
Now the first real estate giant is reacting.
Munich: Vonovia turns down the heating for tenants at night
The Vonovia group announced on Thursday (July 7) that it would turn down the heating in many of its houses between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. - to 17 degrees.
All tenants whose apartments are heated by gas central heating are affected.
Across Germany, around 55 percent of the 500,000 Vonovoia apartments run on gas.
The group owns around 5,500 apartments in Munich.
According to a Vonovia spokesman, it is not yet possible to say whether everyone will be affected by the restriction.
"The night-time reduction will take place in good time before the start of the heating period in autumn, i.e. probably from August," he explains.
The heating would gradually be switched over and the tenants would be informed with notices.
During the day there are no heating restrictions, and the hot water supply is not affected either.
"There are no restrictions on showering or bathing here," says the spokesman.
The Vonovia company announced that it will be colder for tenants.
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
Vonovia hopes to save six to eight percent in heating energy and reduce CO₂ emissions.
The trigger, of course, is the extreme rise in gas prices since the Ukraine war.
One way or another, the tenants have to be prepared for high additional energy payments.
"For one or the other tenant, that could mean up to two months' rent," said the spokesman.
He advises adjusting the advance payments.
Munich tenants are demanding more detailed information - some were caught off guard
Tenant Franz Obst, chairman of a tenant association with 350 members, has already increased his advance payments.
But he doesn't think that the drop in temperatures at night will do much.
“It is important to note which people are hit harder and which are not so much,” he emphasizes.
He considers 17 degrees at night to be acceptable, but: "Turning down the heating is secondary." Instead, it would be more helpful for tenants to have more detailed information about monthly consumption.
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Franz Obst is one of the affected Vonovia tenants.
© Marcus sleep
"We have to endure increased energy consumption because otherwise there would be a legionella infestation," he complains.
His suggestion: You have to renew the lines - you can save energy that way too.
Many other Vonovia tenants in Munich didn't even know what to expect yesterday - they were caught off guard by the news.
A tenant from Laim is worried.
"I don't think that's a good thing at all," she says when our newspaper asks her about the savings round.
Some time ago, the heating had failed for two weeks: "I was cold for two weeks." A young man from the same house reports that he had to go to bed earlier when the heating failed.
Something like that can happen again now.
(ki/cla)
