4 ms·

I think the main reason why this makes me so angry is because it's Berlin, again, doing something fiscally irresponsible that the rest of the country is going t

I think the main reason why this makes me so angry is because it's Berlin, again, doing something fiscally irresponsible that the rest of the country is going to have to finance in the long run. How I imagine it to go down would be like this: Today the politicians pat themselves on the back for their progressive stance on this topic. In year 2 of the rent freeze most of the property investment will have seized, new construction is going to be mainly be occuring by entities that are forced to construct in this market, which are mostly government backed. In year 3 the pressure on the city council will be so high that some emergency funding will be requested by the city to support the government backed property developers (degewo, GESOBAU, GEWOBAG, HOWOGE, WOGEHE, WBM) in their quest to buy expensive property from "evil" speculators to build more housing, as obviously the private markets have failed to do so. In year 5 after two years of campaigning the funding is granted by a then black/green coalition in the Bundestag.

JanSt 7y ago
They already receive $4.4bn/year through the Länderfinanzausgleich (mostly from bavaria) to finance their irresponsible policies. I guess it will just be increased, no need for black/green coalition to add anything.
- southerndrift 7y ago
  That's a bargain when you remember that Siemens moved its headquarter from Berlin to Bavaria after the war [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens
odiroot 7y ago
> I think the main reason why this makes me so angry is because it's Berlin, again, doing something fiscally irresponsible that the rest of the country is going to have to finance in the long run. This is perfectly stated. Not looking forward to possible SPD+Grüne+Linke coalition in Bundestag.
blub 7y ago
What do you call the chicanery that companies like Vonovia are doing except evil speculation? Yes, heavy demand with slower increasing supply will result in higher prices, but we're talking about homes here, not iPhones. People can't afford a home any more, it's inhuman to just let them be bled dry or get kicked out in the name of real-estate profit. Your critique's puzzling especially because this law only applies to existing buildings
- Roritharr 7y ago
  >What do you call the chicanery that companies like Vonovia are doing except evil speculation? What these companies are doing is despicable, but how do you imagine this rent-freeze will change their behavior? They will go looking for their margins via other means if the market is the way it is right now. >Your critique's puzzling especially because this law only applies to existing buildings Do you really think that people will Invest in a real estate market that has legislature that is this investor hostile and face the risk of being outright disowned, as also has been proposed in the run-up to this? I wouldn't touch the Berlin real estate market with a ten-foot pole after this.
  - blub 7y ago
    1. It will take away one of the ways they abuse people. Who knows, if they keep it up, maybe they'll be expropriated next :) 2. Investors touching the Berlin real estate market right now are anyways demanding exorbitant rates just because they can. Normally, this would at some point reach an equilibrium, but so far it's going up and up with no end in sight, pricing out most people. And I bet not all of them will scurry away. Any economic measure will not have a perfect effect, there will always be those that break ranks.
    - Roritharr 7y ago
      So you hope for expropriation and irrationally behaving financial investors. I wanted to say I have a bridge to sell to you, but you already got the Airport... it just hurts that I'm paying for the punchline.

JanSt 7y ago

They already receive $4.4bn/year through the Länderfinanzausgleich (mostly from bavaria) to finance their irresponsible policies. I guess it will just be increased, no need for black/green coalition to add anything.

southerndrift 7y ago
That's a bargain when you remember that Siemens moved its headquarter from Berlin to Bavaria after the war [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens

odiroot 7y ago

> I think the main reason why this makes me so angry is because it's Berlin, again, doing something fiscally irresponsible that the rest of the country is going to have to finance in the long run. This is perfectly stated. Not looking forward to possible SPD+Grüne+Linke coalition in Bundestag.

blub 7y ago

What do you call the chicanery that companies like Vonovia are doing except evil speculation? Yes, heavy demand with slower increasing supply will result in higher prices, but we're talking about homes here, not iPhones. People can't afford a home any more, it's inhuman to just let them be bled dry or get kicked out in the name of real-estate profit. Your critique's puzzling especially because this law only applies to existing buildings

Roritharr 7y ago
>What do you call the chicanery that companies like Vonovia are doing except evil speculation? What these companies are doing is despicable, but how do you imagine this rent-freeze will change their behavior? They will go looking for their margins via other means if the market is the way it is right now. >Your critique's puzzling especially because this law only applies to existing buildings Do you really think that people will Invest in a real estate market that has legislature that is this investor hostile and face the risk of being outright disowned, as also has been proposed in the run-up to this? I wouldn't touch the Berlin real estate market with a ten-foot pole after this.
- blub 7y ago
  1. It will take away one of the ways they abuse people. Who knows, if they keep it up, maybe they'll be expropriated next :) 2. Investors touching the Berlin real estate market right now are anyways demanding exorbitant rates just because they can. Normally, this would at some point reach an equilibrium, but so far it's going up and up with no end in sight, pricing out most people. And I bet not all of them will scurry away. Any economic measure will not have a perfect effect, there will always be those that break ranks.
  - Roritharr 7y ago
    So you hope for expropriation and irrationally behaving financial investors. I wanted to say I have a bridge to sell to you, but you already got the Airport... it just hurts that I'm paying for the punchline.