Читать книгу Debates de la cooperación latinoamericana - Silvana Insignares Cera - Страница 16

Currently, around 1,100 refugees living in Leipzig rented their own flats. According to the legal requirements, refugees can rent flats and the rent is paid by the municipality, if certain rent levels are not exceeded. The rent levels are indicated in the so-called “KdU-Richtlinie”. The costs indicated there are equal to the rent which unemployed persons receive as a state subsidy. In the current situation of the housing market, it is difficult to find vacant apartments which cost no more than the prices indicated in the “KdU-Richtlinie”. This is especially the case in central locations. In peripheral neighborhoods and/or disadvantaged neighborhoods refugees may find apartments which do not exceed the amount of rent indicated in the KdU. Still, these locations are not really attractive and refugees sometimes refuse to live there. Furthermore, German landlords sometimes refuse to rent their apartments to refugees even though rent payments are guaranteed through the state. Due to existing xenophobia, some landlords prefer to rent their flats to Germans than to people with other nationalities. It needs to be emphasized that refugees are in competition with other low-income households, they compete for the same flats and the number of affordable flats in attractive locations is low.