The modernisation announcement from the housing company Degewo states rather innocuously that "harmful substances" will be disposed of. Only urgent enquiries reveal this: It is an asbestos removal project. However, openness would be the order of the day with this hazardous substance.
The tenants of a building in Kreuzberg's Naunynstraße received a 14-page modernisation announcement at the end of 2019. Only those who read very carefully discovered on page 6: "Dismantling and disposal of any components containing harmful substances" would be carried out by certified specialist companies in accordance with the applicable technical regulations.
"On the advice of my legal representative, I asked the Berlin tenants' association whether this was an asbestos removal," recalls one of the tenants.
Even then, the municipal housing company was still reluctant to provide a concrete answer. Only the threat of calling in its own expert led to the disclosure of the facts and the promise of being allowed to view the measurement logs.
At the end of last year, according to information from the Senate in response to an enquiry by Green Party politician Andreas Otto, there were 48,746 municipal flats that were suspected or likely to be affected. With 18,007 flats, Degewo has the second-highest number of cases after Gewobag (18,880).
Lawyer Sven Leistikow, who also represents tenants who have suffered asbestos damage in court, believes that landlords have a clear responsibility when it comes to dealing with this harmful substance: "Where asbestos is present in a residential building, the residents must be informed," he explains. Degewo does not seem to share this view.
Source: Berlin Tenants' Association / Rosemarie Mieder
Degewo Supervisory Board and State Secretary Sebastian Scheel: "Tenants will be informed in good time by degewo prior to the relevant refurbishment measures." (Sebastian Scheel "answers" written enquiry - Asbestos 2030 at Degewo)