1. Talk going on in Hessen by school authorities....that they would BAN cellphones in schools. Some want it to be a fed-thing.....nation-wide.
2. Study by ADAC on punctuality of trains in German cities. Frankfurt is ranked 'dead-last'.
3. Hessen state gov't is talking about a truth-commission over Covid and actions taken in the period.
4. Court battle going on in Brandenburg....over a property which was owned by a Jewish family in the 1930s. Current family owner....'received' the property 85 years ago. Court is preparing to order current owners to return the property to the original Jewish owners.
5. IFW say no growth in Germany expected in 2025.
6. N-TV chatter....FOUR out of TEN companies expect to do employee cuts in 2025.
7. One of the features of ICE trains in Germany (the ultra-fast rail system)....was a food wagon. You'd walk to the center of the train, and they had various drinks and some 'snack' food. One of the bigger deals....draft beer.
Well...it was announced yesterday...starting January 2025....draft beer goes away. You will only be able to buy bottled beer.
8. The board of governors for public TV met yesterday. That talk of a TV tax raise? NO. They voted and said the rate (currently at 18.36 Euro a month) stays at this rate until at least 2027. ARD bosses? Probably angry....they were expecting a raise in the tax (per home).
9. Wednesday morning in my village (4k residents).....some gal about 2 blocks from me....had the door-bell to ring, and here stood some guy in a policeman jack...informing her that he was there to 'ensure' her house was secure.
Yep....fake-cop situation.
She followed him room-to-room, and didn't get suspicious until after he left....then calling the police....to confirm.
It's an odd problem that has developed over the past decade...either flashing a fake badge or wearing a jacket.
10. We have this odd draft law being discussed in the state of Hessen (where I live). The topic? They want to limit you as a landlord with apartments to rent....a max of six months of being 'empty' before you have to rent the place (no choice).
Driving this? They have a study where they figure in the whole state of Hessen...120,000 apartments per year....where it's empty past six months.
Why? Varying reasons. I know in our house....with the two apartments....as the occupants leave....there's a minimum of four months tied to renovation/upgrading the place. On the last occasion, yeah....we actually got to 5.5 months before the new occupant was given the key to move in. When you go and line up the plumber, the wallpaper guy, the floor guy, etc.....it's impossible to get these services arranged.
2 comments:
I think they just want to avoid a situation like Sydney, were half the flats in buildings are empty to drive up prices for the rest of the building. They're being permanently 'renovated'.
Around 4 years ago....two retired Frankfurt guys (who routinely walk through the city)...came to a realization that 30-odd apartment buildings in the city were 'shut-down' (vacant)...in some stage of renovation. But as they asked questions....this was long-term shut-downs (more than four years). You can do the math....speculation-wise, there's probably in the 2,500 to 3,000 apartments sitting there empty. So the odd thing...they went to the city-planning office and asked who owned the 30-odd buildings...answer: all the same 'group' (one source).
If you figure 100 urban zones in Germany....yeah, there might be near half-a-million apartments in this 'dead-zone'. This threat of forcing rentals? I suspect politicians will drop the discussion.
It'd make a great movie script...'housing-mafia'
But I'd add this....a lot of Germans are fed-up with life in the urban-zones, and would readily sign up for living 30 km outside of town....going by S-Bahn to work. Life is a lot simpler in a town of 15,000 compared to living in Frankfurt.
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