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Wiesbaden (dpa / lhe) - The SPD parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament criticizes the rent increase at the Nassauische Heimstätte in the middle of the Corona crisis.
The state-owned housing company had to reduce the increases by up to 15 percent that were pronounced for some of the tenants at the beginning of the year, demanded MEP Elke Barth on Wednesday in Wiesbaden.
At the beginning of the 2020 pandemic, Nassauische Heimstätte initially set a good example by refraining from increases and dismissals due to rent arrears and offering deferrals.
Many people still have existential worries, said Barth.
A public housing company in particular must take on social responsibility in such a crisis.
"Rent increases at the moment contradict the idea of social responsibility, they are downright immoral," she said.
Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) called the increase, however, "socially balanced".
The average rents at Nassauische Heimstätte were among the lowest in all of Hesse.
The housing company is dependent on income to continue investing in social housing and to make its portfolio climate-neutral by 2050.
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Al-Wazir reminded that all tenants who cannot pay their rent on time due to the current situation could contact a service center.
Then an individual solution is sought.
The minister is chairman of the supervisory board at Nassauische Heimstätte.
The deputy chairman of the left-wing parliamentary group, Jan Schalauske, said: "In the middle of the corona pandemic, it is fundamentally the wrong time to increase rent."
The fact that the state-owned company has increased the rents of thousands of apartments in all of Hessen for the New Year is scandalous.
During the first lockdown between April and June 2020, Nassauische Heimstätte increased rents in more than 2,300 apartments.
"These unsocial rent increases should also be urgently withdrawn," said Schalauske.
The housing policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Jürgen Lenders, stated on the other hand that the rent increase served to enable the housing association to invest.
If they waived, they would have to receive another equity increase from the State of Hesse.
"Even a publicly funded housing market needs space and income to provide affordable housing," said Lenders.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210203-99-283092 / 2