Danger for residents: Focus on Groner Landstrasse 9 in Göttingen!
The SPD and the Greens are requesting measures for vulnerable residents in Göttingen, Groner Landstrasse 9, due to increasing risks and intolerable conditions.

Danger for residents: Focus on Groner Landstrasse 9 in Göttingen!
A worrying picture emerges at Groner Landstrasse 9 in Göttingen. While the search for an investor who could provide the urgently needed apartments is progressing slowly, the SPD and Green groups have submitted an emergency motion to the council to remedy the catastrophic conditions in the real estate complex. How Göttingen Tageblatt reports, the SPD sees a significant danger for the residents living there, especially after an incident in which burning garbage on the roof required a large-scale intervention by the fire department.
The emergency motion calls for comprehensive measures to combat the intolerable conditions, which range from dilapidation, littering, high levels of crime to vandalism. What is particularly alarming is that the rents for the apartments are above the Göttingen rent index. Loud NDR The rent for a 17.5 square meter apartment is 343 euros, which is higher than the 9.35 euros per square meter for comparable apartments.
Political exchanges and measures
In the political exchange, the SPD and the Greens discuss the best steps to resolve the tense situation. While the SPD sees its urgent motion as an emphasis on quick measures, it criticizes the Greens' amendment, which calls for it to be discussed in a non-public special session with external experts, as a delaying tactic. Phrases such as “police” and “advisor” were ultimately removed from the applications so that the city administration could begin processing the applications immediately.
As a consequence of the problems on site, the SPD and the Greens are now demanding concrete results that should be presented to the political committees by autumn. Mayor Petra Broistedt emphasizes that no major measures will be taken without the consent of politicians. However, the discussion about the urgent application remains pending while the city and the district raise 1.28 million euros annually for 174 apartments on Groner Landstrasse.
A worsening housing problem
The situation at the Groner Landstrasse location is symptomatic of an overarching problem in many German cities. How Böckler Foundation notes, there is a lack of around 1.9 million affordable apartments in major German cities, including a particularly large number of small apartments. High interest rates and rising construction costs in the real estate market make it more difficult to build new social housing, which is why the traffic light government is finding it difficult to implement its ambitious goals for creating new housing.
The average costs for social benefit recipients in Göttingen are also alarmingly high at 613 euros per month for apartments of 17 to 39 square meters. This price situation means that many residents are effectively forced to live in expensive and dilapidated properties. A lawyer has therefore suggested using rent reductions as a means of pressure to improve living conditions.
Given all these circumstances, it remains to be seen how the political actors in Göttingen will tackle the challenges. One thing is clear: time is short and the residents of Groner Landstrasse are urgently waiting for improvement.