This article from Berlin is very interesting. The city presents two totally different universes when it comes to renting an apartment. Either you're one of the

This article from Berlin is very interesting. The city presents two totally different universes when it comes to renting an apartment. Either you're one of the lucky ones to secure a rent-controlled unit and never (literally never) officially leave the unit. Folks often do under-the-table deals to keep the price low for their friends. It's so common that rental websites even advertise "house swap" deals where you swap units and keep the contracts under the same names. Or you're out of luck and will pay much higher rent prices since you can't get a rent-controlled unit. It's a wealth redistribution scheme that benefits whoever is lucky enough to secure a contract, not necessarily someone who needs it. I know software engineers in Berlin who make 100k Euros and pay 700 Euros/month in rent, while someone who makes 30k Euros pays 1500 Euros/month. Rent control is so obviously broken, and I am shocked at how it is never properly criticized. Maybe because on the surface it seems like a nice deal: "lower rents are good!" However, the unintended consequences, such as reduced housing quality, decreased mobility, and increased rents for uncontrolled units, show that the policy often does more harm than good.