Protest against 15 percent rent increase in Hanover-Südstadt
Hanover. When the mail came from their landlord, several tenants in Hanover’s southern part were shocked. The Gundlach housing company, actually known for its social projects in the city, announced rent increases of over 15 percent. This sometimes means cold rents of more than 2000 euros per month. Because at least five tenants do not accept the increase, Gundlach sues the tenants.
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Doreen Schüler is expecting her second child. Even if her husband and she don’t earn badly, she says: “If this rent increase is enforced, then the apartments here will be too expensive for families, and we will have to move to the surrounding area – even if we don’t really want to.”
Great burden in the crisis
Her neighbors Tanja and Manuel Scholz also objected to the increase. Their rent is to be increased by EUR 264 per month. They gave the landlord a “great fright”, after all, such a sum represents “a great burden” for families during a crisis. They voluntarily offered to increase the basic rent by 135 euros – but Gundlach refused.
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“The condition of the residential complex does not justify the rent increase”
The houses, which frame an inner courtyard on Große Düwelstraße, were considered ultra-modern when they were built a good twelve years ago. The plaster facades are now visibly gray, three out of six trees on the playground in the inner courtyard have died, and the wooden benches are overgrown with moss. “The floor plans of the apartments are great, but the condition of the residential complex does not justify this rent increase,” says tenant Schüler.
Three out of six trees by the sandpit have died, the benches are covered in moss: Gundlach apartments on Grosse Düwelstrasse in Hanover-Südstadt.
© Source: Conrad von Meding
The students moved in in 2017 and have so far paid 10.41 euros in rent per square meter. Gundlach uses the rent index to calculate that a higher price is allowed, so it would be increased by 15 percent – that would be the maximum allowed. The final totals are so high because the apartments are relatively large. Doreen Schüler and her family have a good 130 square meters.
Error in index rental agreement
But even if the rent increase requests appear to have been correctly calculated according to the specifications of the Hanover rent index, the five Gundlach tenants in the building complex have a good chance of winning in court. Because your landlord made a mistake when concluding the rental agreements.
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Gundlach had agreed so-called index rental contracts when the tenants moved in. That means: The rent increases automatically with an index that is linked to the development of consumer prices, similar to inflation. As soon as there is an increase of more than 10 percent, the rent is adjusted. That would have been the case now. However, the index clause noted by Gundlach only provided for rent increases, i.e. changes only at the expense of the tenants. Legally, however, such clauses must be taken into account in such a way that tenants can also have advantages if the price develops negatively by more than 10 percent – even if this case is considered very unlikely by economists.
Wrong clause – but that only comes out on request
What annoyed the tenants in the residential complex: Gundlach did not tell them that the clause was invalid. That only came out when I asked. Gundlach now refers to the fact that if a clause is unlawful, the normal legal case automatically applies and therefore rent increases according to the rent index (“comparative rent customary in the area”) are appropriate. The tenants’ lawyers argue that their clients would be worse off again. Because if one had calculated according to the index, a 15 percent increase in rent would not have been possible at the time the increase was announced.
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Gundlach managing director Frank Eretge says that rent increases are never, “but a necessary part of proper management”. If people get into trouble because of rent increases, we look for individual solutions. In these cases, however, there is “no indication of it”. Housing companies need rental income to cover their expenses, the increase is reasonable.
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“We are not the rich”
The tenants dispute this. The courts will now have to clarify who is right. “Gundlach always acts as if they are Robin Hood on the housing market – but we are not the rich from whom you can collect more and more money,” says Doreen Schüler. They hope that their family and neighbors will not have to move out. “The price development would drive us to the surrounding area – but then we would need a second car, my son would lose his friends and we would spend a lot of time driving. We want to stay in the city.”