Germany: THS privatises workers’ flats
The housing association THS sold about 600 former public rental housing units in the Ruhr area to a private investor called REIP P-second, registered in the tax haven Luxembourg. Already before legally finishing the transaction tenants received letters to pay rents to the new owner. The letters included forms to overwrite welfare income to the new landlord.
At least parts of the housing units originally belonged to the public railways. The railways’ workers flats within the first privatisation step of the railways were sold to different companies. The largest part went to the London based private equity fund TerraFirma (Annington). Other parts were sold to existing German housing companies. One of these companies then were sold to THS.
THS is a rather specific landlord, mainly controlling miners’ homes. Originally shares were owned by the mining companies, the trade union of miners and the state. As part of the IPO of the former mining monopole Ruhrkohle AG the mining companies’ shares went to the new Evonik real estate. At the same time THS had to take over the state share for 450 million Euro. As a consequence THS now has to sell parts of it’s housing stocks.
REIP P-second is one of three companies which - by a businessman from Bochum - have been registered last year in Luxemburg. “REIP holding” according to press bought more than 1600 housing units in the Ruhr area during the last year. It even bought a portfolio of more than 600 former public housing units in Hanau near Frankfurt.
Thanks to specific regulations which had been achieved during the first transaction, some railway workers still living in the affected flats are legally protected against housing losses, exorbitant rent increases and expensive modernisations. But this is only a minority. The majority of tenants only enjoy ordinary legal rights. Main dangers after the sale are condo-conversions or a worsened maintenance. There are already problems with maintenance in the aged buildings.
The mentioned early letters by the new landlord had not been coordinated with THS which still expects rent payments for the next month. Witten Tenants Association organized meetings and protested against this sale without protection to an obviously very offensive landlord.
More information (German) at Witten Tenants’ Union homepage.
Posted on January 29th, 2009 under Germany, transactions & privatisations • Tags: housing, miners, railways, Ruhr, THS. • 
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