Recipients of housing benefit should quickly benefit from the planned improvements in service. Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) confirmed this in front of around 350 delegates at the trade union congress of the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt in Kassel. “People are now worried. People are now afraid of the additional costs,” said the minister. This Wednesday, the cabinet should therefore decide to expand and increase the housing benefit by an average of 190 euros and to implement the flat-rate heating fee on a permanent basis.
It also needs more social housing, said Geywitz. While there were at times three million social housing units in the old Federal Republic, there are currently just under one million. There is a particular need for social housing for trainees in the form of dormitories. “Housing is again one of the major social issues of our time,” said the SPD politician. Therefore, the funds for social housing would be increased significantly to 14.5 billion euros by 2026.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously addressed the delegates in Kassel in a video message and confirmed the need for falling electricity and gas prices. “We now have the big task of making sure that the prices don’t go through the roof,” he said. Current energy prices should be pushed down.
State should get into housing groups
In the run-up to the trade union day, IG Bau had called for the state to get involved with important listed housing groups in order to influence the rental market. “The federal government should buy into large, listed housing companies and thus secure a say in the long-term rental price policy of the real estate groups,” said chairman Robert Feiger to the newspapers of the Funke media group (Monday). The aim must be a blocking minority of 25 percent of the shares plus one share. Specifically, Feiger named the two real estate heavyweights Vonovia and LEG.
“In this way, the federal government can influence important strategic decisions on the supervisory boards of companies,” argued the union boss. “The state would thus signal that – after many privatizations – it is getting involved in the housing market again.” Specifically, it is about putting a damper on rents in the future.
