“Rents will rise significantly,” the company head announced.

In the city of Gelsenkirchen in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, tenants of a high-rise building are struggling with high additional utility costs and new rental prices. Desperate tenants expressed their dissatisfaction with the difficult living situation to German media, and they also involved a lawyer in everything.

Tenants of the high-rise building owned by the real estate company LEG on Allensteiner and Neidenburger Strasse in Gelsenkirchen were aware that the tense situation on the energy market and high inflation could lead to an increase in additional utility costs for 2022, writes Fenix magazin.

Costs exploded

Additional utility charges in some cases amount to more than 4,000 euros. According to German media, heating costs for district heating in multi-storey buildings have particularly exploded.

Example of tenant 1

The 42-year-old woman has been renting for two years. For an apartment of 76 square meters, she should pay 4,139.90 euros in additional utility charges.

The mother of three says: “I cannot pay this amount. The city will not pay it either. I am afraid I will end up on the street.”

It is also difficult to adjust the new rent based on the imposed surcharge: Instead of 719 euros, she will in future pay 1,265 euros for the apartment…

Example of tenant 2

A 69-year-old pensioner suffering from multiple sclerosis has also been renting for 12 years. She received a request for an additional utility payment of 1,871 euros.

“It is a joke, it makes you sick. How many times did the heating break down for us in 2022, which is why we had cold apartments… I do not intend to pay it!”

Because of the additional costs, her rent is rising from 593 euros to 801.40 euros for a 72-square-meter apartment.

Example of tenant 3

The additional payment for 2022 amounts to 2,488 euros.

“But I still have outstanding utility bills from 2020 and 2021. I have filed an objection against all claims.”

She has a debt of 4,500 euros. She has already received a lease termination notice for the apartment, which is why she hired a lawyer.

Example of tenant 4

She is organizing a tenants' protest and helping others. She should pay an additional 2,396 euros.

“We are all already saving on heating. Every year it gets worse,” she says.

She advises tenants to seek legal advice in any case and to defend themselves against high utility bills by means prescribed by law.

Rental prices will rise

LEG is a real estate company with 167,000 rental apartments throughout Germany in which around 500,000 residents live. The aforementioned company told German media that the increase in additional utility costs was generally based on the usual adjustments to market prices.

Tenants of this real estate company generally have to expect higher rents. “Rents will rise significantly,” the company head announced.

After all, following an inquiry from German media, LEG said in this specific case: “We will once again comprehensively review the bills of LEG tenants on Allensteiner and Neidenburger Straße in Gelsenkirchen-Buer. If an error occurred, the tenants will of course also receive a corrected statement. Of course, all additional claims are blocked in the meantime.”

Source: poslovni.hr