New rent regulations are being planned for Berlin

Berlin is a city that has long been a battleground for tenants, with a long history of efforts to regulate the rental market. Various political initiatives, such as the rent cap, price brake, and housing alliance, have been implemented to provide relief, especially on the price front, on the sought-after housing market. Christian Gaebler (SPD), Berlin’s Senator for Urban Development and Building, told the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper about the Berlin Senate’s latest plans: a new inspectorate to combat exorbitant rents is to be launched in November. “After the summer break, we will introduce the necessary bill. I assume that this will be passed relatively quickly”, commented the senator. Berlin’s Senator for Economic Affairs Franziska Giffey (SPD) has additional proposals: “In a light of budget constraints, we also have to talk about the revenue side”, she commented to the German Press Agency. “Another lever is the population register”, she noted, especially as the 2022 census has revealed fewer residents in Berlin than assumed: “More and more people want to live in Berlin. But the question is, do they all register here? For every person who is not registered in Berlin, the city loses over EUR 3,000 in national financial allocations.” She also wants to tackle residents‘ parking and has proposed increasing the cost of permits from EUR 20.40 for two years, to EUR 20.40 per year. Independently of the plans of the Senate and the SPD, the Berlin Greens are preparing to introduce a new legislative proposal known as the Housing Industry Act, which they say they will present in the autumn. The Greens’ proposal will call for the introduction of a “landlords’ licensing” system, requiring larger landlords to adhere to specific criteria and social standards.