Living makes you poor, because of the exploding energy prices. And even before the current price shock, many households had to struggle.
Even before the current energy price shock, every eighth person living in a rented apartment was overburdened with housing costs. Last year, 12.8 percent of tenants in Germany had to spend more than 40 percent of their disposable income on housing, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Friday.
In view of the drastic increase in energy costs, including the gas levy, social organizations expect millions of citizens to find themselves in existential need and are calling for significant state intervention.
“The problem is that the costs of living cannot be saved. Everyone needs a roof over their heads, they have to heat, wash and cook,” says Verena Bentele, president of the VdK social association. Then there are the more expensive groceries. Bentele demands protection against terminations for everyone who cannot pay rent or operating costs in one fell swoop. “No one should end up on the street.”
On average, people in Germany spent 23.3 percent of their income on housing last year, and 27.6 percent for tenants. They make up a little more than half of the total German population, a top value in Europe. Above all, low-income tenant households have long been suffering from the strong cost pressure. According to the statistics, more than a third (36.2 percent) of people in the bottom fifth of the income bracket lived in a constantly financially overburdened household in 2021.
High rent burden contributes to poverty risk
“The mixture of skyrocketing living costs and excessive income wastage due to the rent burden is a real risk of poverty,” says General Manager Ulrich Schneider from the Paritätischer Gesamtverband. He is also committed to a comprehensive electricity, energy and rental moratorium. “There is also an urgent need for comprehensive help for people on low incomes by increasing and expanding housing benefits.”
The Darmstadt professor Anne Lenze warned a few days ago on the occasion of the poverty statistics. “It hits those hardest who already have little.” People with low incomes already spend a large part on housing and food. Saving or limiting yourself, for example when visiting restaurants or traveling, is not possible for them. Since most people also live in poorly insulated apartments, they would be fully impacted by higher energy costs. Poverty in terms of energy and food could become a social issue of this decade, says poverty researcher Christoph Butterwegge.
Tenants’ association demands rent freeze
The really big price jumps will only come in 2023 with the subsequent utility bills, warns Tenant Association President Lukas Siebenkotten. He expects additional pressure on rents without taxes because new housing construction is literally collapsing. “The traffic light government’s strategy of finally taking the pressure off the housing market through new construction is not working, at least for the time being.” A nationwide freeze on rents, the punishment of usury and the introduction of a new non-profit housing scheme are needed.
In addition, the federal government and other public bodies would have to increasingly buy up former social housing, the tenants’ association demands. According to IG BAU, the promised federal funds of 14.5 billion euros by 2025 are by no means sufficient to actually complete 100,000 subsidized new apartments every year. The union therefore wants additional investment grants and tax breaks for permanently price-controlled housing. In addition, new apartments would have to be created in the existing building. The conversion of offices that are no longer needed alone could bring 1.9 million new apartments, says IG-BAU boss Robert Feiger.
In addition, the situation is aggravated by the modernization of the building stock, which is urgently needed from an ecological point of view. The costs could not be passed on to the tenants alone, say the union and tenants’ association. They propose a third model in which owners, the public sector and tenants share the renovation costs. The Haus und Grund owners’ association also sees it this way: “It’s a joint task for owners, tenants and the state. It won’t work without noticeable state support, but – in the case of rented buildings – not without the participation of the tenants either.”
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
