3 ms·

It's not just the welfare state that makes this possible, it's maybe more so the fact that (as far as I understand) Germany has a functioning housing market, an

It's not just the welfare state that makes this possible, it's maybe more so the fact that (as far as I understand) Germany has a functioning housing market, and Berlin especially is very cheap for such a big city. In many parts of Europe housing costs would have killed you.

organsnyder 8y ago
Any ideas why Berlin has such an affordable housing market?
- somethingsimple 8y ago
  A friend of mine who lives there told me rents cannot be increased by more than the current inflation rate for years. It’s only every x years that landlords are allowed to adjust to market rates or something. Can someone from Berlin confirm that this is accurate?
  - patall 8y ago
    In theory, there is some law that should prevent rent increases too much but you would not get anything like that anymore now. Now you get fixed term contracts and after that rent will increase by whatever amount is possible. The time you describe is over (and only valid for old but still existing contracts)
- krn 8y ago
  Berlin is affordable, because, like Leipzig and Dresden, it's in former East Germany. Most of the country's economy is still concentrated in West Germany[1] (Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg), which is much less affordable. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP#2017_List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP#2...
- haldean 8y ago
  At its peak (in the early 40s) it had 4.5M people living in it, and only has about 3.5M people living there now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_population_statistics#/media/File:Berlin_population2.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_population_statistics#/... The city was built for a population bigger than its current population.
  - pantalaimon 8y ago
    Most of which was destroyed in WW2 and the urban redevelopment programs of the 60ies and 70ies. Today we have a housing shortage and the fastest rent increase in Germany.
- patall 8y ago
  Because before, it was even more affordable (prices doubled in the last ten years already) and before that there was no Berlin (in the form we know it today ...)

organsnyder 8y ago

Any ideas why Berlin has such an affordable housing market?

somethingsimple 8y ago
A friend of mine who lives there told me rents cannot be increased by more than the current inflation rate for years. It’s only every x years that landlords are allowed to adjust to market rates or something. Can someone from Berlin confirm that this is accurate?
- patall 8y ago
  In theory, there is some law that should prevent rent increases too much but you would not get anything like that anymore now. Now you get fixed term contracts and after that rent will increase by whatever amount is possible. The time you describe is over (and only valid for old but still existing contracts)
krn 8y ago
Berlin is affordable, because, like Leipzig and Dresden, it's in former East Germany. Most of the country's economy is still concentrated in West Germany[1] (Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg), which is much less affordable. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP#2017_List https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GRP#2...
haldean 8y ago
At its peak (in the early 40s) it had 4.5M people living in it, and only has about 3.5M people living there now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_population_statistics#/media/File:Berlin_population2.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_population_statistics#/... The city was built for a population bigger than its current population.
- pantalaimon 8y ago
  Most of which was destroyed in WW2 and the urban redevelopment programs of the 60ies and 70ies. Today we have a housing shortage and the fastest rent increase in Germany.
patall 8y ago
Because before, it was even more affordable (prices doubled in the last ten years already) and before that there was no Berlin (in the form we know it today ...)