Berlin rents could be frozen and tenants may sue to reduce costs
Tenants will have the power to sue landlords to lower their rent if it goes above a set limit.
Tuesday 22 October 2019 23:04, UK
Rents in Berlin could be frozen for five years to reverse rising costs in one of Germany's most expensive cities to live in.
The city's left-wing coalition government wants to halt rents for flats built before 2014, covering three-quarters of Berlin blocks.
Under the plan, rent would be capped at €9.80 (£8.47) per square metre.
Landlords would be able to raise rents in line with inflation of 1.3% a year from 2022 but they would not be able to charge rents higher than the previous tenant paid.
Tenants would even be able to sue to have their rent lowered if it went above a set limit.
Rents in the German capital have been rising sharply over the past decade.
Few Berliners own their homes or flats so have been forced to move outside the city as rents rise.
Rents now are in sharp contrast to the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, when the economically depressed former community east of the city opened up.
It became a low-rent hub, attracting artists and others wanting a more bohemian way of life.
The rent freeze plan needs to be approved by the city's parliament before it can go ahead in 2020.
Spain and the Netherlands have introduced nationwide rent control measures over the past few years, Canada has had regulations since 2006 and four US states - California, New Jersey, New York and Maryland - also do.
However, the fact Berliners will be able to sue if their rent is too high will be unique.
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