German Landlords Start to Limit Hot Water, Heating Hours as Bills Grow, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Landlords in Germany have begun reducing hot water and heating hours in order to be able to afford rising gas and electricity prices, German newspaper Bild reported on Tuesday.

The measure was taken by a housing cooperative in the small German town of Dippoldiswalde and would affect 600 apartments managed by the cooperative, according to the report.

"The prices of gas and electricity continue to rise. As already announced at the [cooperative] members' meeting, we now have to save money in anticipation of winter," the cooperative wrote in a notice to tenants, as quoted in the report.

Hot water will now be available only in the time slots from 4 a.m. – 8 a.m., from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

"This is not about making tenants angry, but about setting ourselves up to that otherwise we will not be able to pay for it [heating and hot water] next year," the newspaper quoted the cooperative's chairman, Falk Kuhn-Meisegeier, as saying.

Kuhn-Meisegeier added that tenants can do their part by starting to save money so that they "get through this crisis well."

The start of hostilities in Ukraine in February only exacerbated the energy crisis unfolding in Europe over the past year. Disruptions in logistical and financial operations due to Western sanctions against Russia have undermined supply chains and led to a spike in energy prices worldwide. The EU has introduced six packages of restrictions, none of which has affected Russian gas yet, although EU countries have been stocking up on gas with a view to having storage facilities filled to at least 80% by November.

On Monday, German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) head Klaus Mueller said that Germany has enough gas reserves to last just for one or two months in the event if supplies from Russia stop completely.