Leipzig: #WoPoLE. @Independent: #HousingCrisis. What the UK can learn from Germany’s #CooperativeHousing movement. Members of #SoWoeG believe housing is a human right and shouldn’t be private property. #Genossenschaften

The Independent: “Dirko Goebel is the last tenant left in a magnificent corner apartment block in Leipzig. A spiral staircase leads to abandoned rooms, revealing wooden floors, tall ceilings, and ceramic coal heaters stacked in corners, hinting at the building’s former glory.
…
But Goebel doesn’t want to leave. He has made his home in one of the lower floors, fitted a small kitchen by hand and built a mezzanine bed to make space for sofas and his books. Thanks to Germany’s tenancy laws, which are stronger than in the UK, he had the right to keep living in his apartment even after the landlord wanted to sell it. Over the years, he continued to refuse offers of money to move out, stalling a potential sale. Last year, in part because he had refused, a housing organisation called the Solidarity Co-operative was able to purchase the building. … .”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/indyventure/housing-crisis-uk-learn-from-germany-cooperative-movement-a8644481.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/indyventure/housing-crisis-uk-learn-from-germany-cooperative-movement-a8644481.html