Beginning in early 2020, Berlin’s left-leaning government will freeze rents for five years. Landlords will be required to show new tenants the most recent rental contracts to prove they aren’t jacking up prices. They’ll also have to follow new rent-cap rules, which for many landlords could mean lowering rents by as much as 40%. Those who don’t comply will be hit with fines as high as €500,000 ($553,000) for each violation. — Bloomberg Businessweek
Writing in Bloomberg Businessweek, Caroline Winter and Andrew Blackman cover the fascinating political battle taking place in Berlin, Germany, where tenants' groups and landlords are navigating the impacts of recent rent-freeze regulations by the local government that aim to reign in unaffordable rents in the city.
The freeze is being complimented with an aggressive apartment building buy-back program that will remove housing units from private control, placing the homes under public ownership. Berlin is currently growing by over 40,000 new residents every year and faces a housing shortfall that, when coupled with rampant speculative investment, threatens to turn yet another affordable city into an expensive enclave for international finance.
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