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The situation in Berlin before the policy change was that the city government had made it very hard to build apartments at all. Each time a project it developed

The situation in Berlin before the policy change was that the city government had made it very hard to build apartments at all. Each time a project it developed, the developer is blackmailed into supporting various unrelated policies, being it parking space related, maximum stories, etc., and sometimes capriciously denied permission to build. This is how my green-leaning, government-trusting architect friends describe the situation. This happened all the while time Berlin changed from being viewed as a forgotten backyard in Germany with few companies and high unemployment to the capital city of the dominant and richest country in Europe. Especially the great financial crisis accelerated this change of perception. Consequently, many people moved to Berlin. For many years 100k people per year moved into a city of 4m. Stated in terms of economics, supply of apartments was very steady, and demand jumped up. The sound response of a market is to signal that through price hikes. That should encourage investment in residential building. When this is being suppressed nothing can even get better. Only longtime renters are favored. People with already cheap and large apartments benefit. Losers are those young couples expecting a baby. A solution that could potentially work would be to accept temporary pains from high prices, remove regulatory obstacles from new construction and let the industry find a new balance. Maybe accelerate the process by governmental subsidies, if you like that sort of policy. But the current policy can't work in theory, it doesn't work in practice. And it only benefits old established interests who are privileged already.

csunbird 6y ago
I moved to Berlin two years ago and the finding a house was incredibly exhausting. As the article mentions, there are two categories, rent capped apartments and non rent capped apartments. For the first category, there are 2000+ applicants per day per apartment, making it impossible to actually have a chance to get the apartment. The odds getting that apartment as a foreigner that do not speak German is non existent, you actually have better odds on playing lottery and winning it, then buying a new apartment. The second category is the overpriced apartments, the "landlords" (mostly the same three evil companies) are asking stupid amounts of rent for small apartments (1100 - 1200 cold rent for 50sqm ??). Those apartments are not accessible to 90% of the population. They are very happy to rent to the foreigners, since they can extract money from them, plus they do not know the local laws, so they can push newbies around. Currently there are two categories of people living in the Berlin as well: The new comers, who are screwed and the old renters who rented for cheap, who landlords can not get rid of. The first category are mostly expats, who are being screwed by landlords who do not want to rent to foreigners (especially if you are not from Europa), so they are pushed to new, non-rent capped apartments, making their lives even harder. The second category is people rented huge apartments for 300 Euro per month 10 years ago, with 2% increases per year, who are not going to move soon. Berlin wants to be the startup capital and an expat center, but it is not going to happen if they allow systematic exclusion* and abuse of expats that are trying to settle in the city. I can go and rant for days but I think this post is already long enough. * I did not want to use "racism" word here but it really feels like it is.
- bogomipz 6y ago
  >"The second category is the overpriced apartments, the "landlords" (mostly the same three evil companies) are asking stupid amounts of rent for small apartments (1100 - 1200 cold rent for 50sqm ??)." Which companies are these? >"The first category are mostly expats, who are being screwed by landlords who do not want to rent to foreigners (especially if you are not from Europa)," Unless I'm reading this incorrectly doesn't this contradict your earlier statment that they want to rent to expats "since they can extract money from them, plus they do not know the local laws, so they can push newbies around."? I'm curious How did you ultimately end up finding a place?
  - dna_polymerase 6y ago
    > Which companies are these? Pretty sure they are talking about Vonovia [0], Degewo [1], Deutsche Wohnen [2]. [0]: https://www.vonovia.de/en https://www.vonovia.de/en [1]: https://www.degewo.de/ https://www.degewo.de/ [2]: https://www.deutsche-wohnen.com/en/ https://www.deutsche-wohnen.com/en/
    - mtrovo 6y ago
      Don't forget Akelius
  - csunbird 6y ago
    My first apartment was a limited lease for 6 months (like AirBnB but a private company), which I could terminate within a month if I could find another place. I could not, had to extend it to 2 years (the landlord said it will not be possible to extend beyond 2 years). After the 1.5 years of search, I was able to get not so affordable but acceptable place. 1.5 years to find an apartment, that is not cheap but bordering the acceptable rent. Nobody should suffer this in their lifetimes. I am not going to name the companies and get sued. Stuff like that are serious in Germany.
    - throwaway12903 6y ago
      > 1.5 years to find an apartment, that is not cheap but bordering the acceptable Curious - how far outside of the center of Berlin did your search extend, and what was your parameters for an acceptable place/rent?
alacombe 6y ago
> The situation in Berlin before the policy change was that the city government had made it very hard to build apartments at all. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

csunbird 6y ago

I moved to Berlin two years ago and the finding a house was incredibly exhausting. As the article mentions, there are two categories, rent capped apartments and non rent capped apartments. For the first category, there are 2000+ applicants per day per apartment, making it impossible to actually have a chance to get the apartment. The odds getting that apartment as a foreigner that do not speak German is non existent, you actually have better odds on playing lottery and winning it, then buying a new apartment. The second category is the overpriced apartments, the "landlords" (mostly the same three evil companies) are asking stupid amounts of rent for small apartments (1100 - 1200 cold rent for 50sqm ??). Those apartments are not accessible to 90% of the population. They are very happy to rent to the foreigners, since they can extract money from them, plus they do not know the local laws, so they can push newbies around. Currently there are two categories of people living in the Berlin as well: The new comers, who are screwed and the old renters who rented for cheap, who landlords can not get rid of. The first category are mostly expats, who are being screwed by landlords who do not want to rent to foreigners (especially if you are not from Europa), so they are pushed to new, non-rent capped apartments, making their lives even harder. The second category is people rented huge apartments for 300 Euro per month 10 years ago, with 2% increases per year, who are not going to move soon. Berlin wants to be the startup capital and an expat center, but it is not going to happen if they allow systematic exclusion* and abuse of expats that are trying to settle in the city. I can go and rant for days but I think this post is already long enough. * I did not want to use "racism" word here but it really feels like it is.

bogomipz 6y ago
>"The second category is the overpriced apartments, the "landlords" (mostly the same three evil companies) are asking stupid amounts of rent for small apartments (1100 - 1200 cold rent for 50sqm ??)." Which companies are these? >"The first category are mostly expats, who are being screwed by landlords who do not want to rent to foreigners (especially if you are not from Europa)," Unless I'm reading this incorrectly doesn't this contradict your earlier statment that they want to rent to expats "since they can extract money from them, plus they do not know the local laws, so they can push newbies around."? I'm curious How did you ultimately end up finding a place?
- dna_polymerase 6y ago
  > Which companies are these? Pretty sure they are talking about Vonovia [0], Degewo [1], Deutsche Wohnen [2]. [0]: https://www.vonovia.de/en https://www.vonovia.de/en [1]: https://www.degewo.de/ https://www.degewo.de/ [2]: https://www.deutsche-wohnen.com/en/ https://www.deutsche-wohnen.com/en/
  - mtrovo 6y ago
    Don't forget Akelius
- csunbird 6y ago
  My first apartment was a limited lease for 6 months (like AirBnB but a private company), which I could terminate within a month if I could find another place. I could not, had to extend it to 2 years (the landlord said it will not be possible to extend beyond 2 years). After the 1.5 years of search, I was able to get not so affordable but acceptable place. 1.5 years to find an apartment, that is not cheap but bordering the acceptable rent. Nobody should suffer this in their lifetimes. I am not going to name the companies and get sued. Stuff like that are serious in Germany.
  - throwaway12903 6y ago
    > 1.5 years to find an apartment, that is not cheap but bordering the acceptable Curious - how far outside of the center of Berlin did your search extend, and what was your parameters for an acceptable place/rent?

alacombe 6y ago

> The situation in Berlin before the policy change was that the city government had made it very hard to build apartments at all. Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.