Magdeburg (dpa/sa) – The housing industry in Saxony-Anhalt is warning of a further aggravation of the situation for tenants and housing companies as a result of the planned gas levy. The situation is threatening, said Jens Zillmann from the Association of the Housing Industry Saxony-Anhalt (VdW) on Friday of the German Press Agency. Around 50 percent of tenants in municipal housing companies are already reporting that they cannot pay the higher operating costs, said Zillmann. Many would ask if they would then be fired, which is legally possible. “But we won’t do it,” said the head of the association. In the end, however, housing is also an economic consideration.
On Thursday evening, the federal cabinet agreed on a gas levy that will lead to price increases for gas customers from autumn. The federal government wants to prevent importers from collapsing as a result of severely curtailed Russian gas supplies. The surcharge should take effect from October and help importers who have to buy gas at significantly higher prices but are currently unable to bill their customers for these additional costs. The amount of the contribution is still being calculated.
Based on the current additional expenditure for household energy, the Federal Association of the Housing Industry (GdW) had calculated that an average household in 2022 would have to expect additional costs of 3799 euros even without the planned surcharge.
