Berlin Builds Ideas to Stage a Housing Revolution

Not a hard limit. Just progressive tax that makes owning much real estate very expensive and in effect unprofitable.

There is no need to put a hard limit, just an effective limit by having a general wealth tax. Money flows to where money already is, that's inevitable in a capitalist market economy. There's no need to change that, but progressively bigger piles of wealth should be progressively higher taxed to keep them in check, thus ensuring a competitive market.

Edit: I guess I should have known mentioning wealth tax would get people nervous. But this is not about taxing your old grandma for her paid-off house. This is about small but increasing percentage, starting at maybe $1M-10M and really kicking in at $1B and above. You can then abolish dividend taxing (that's only fair) and perhaps income tax altogether.

I do not think this implementation is a good use of taxpayer money or government effort.

  has developed a reputation for raising rents sharply by finding loopholes in Germany’s fairly strict rental laws.

This is the item the government should rightfully be attempting to fix. Not acting as a market participant.

  In the meantime, the firm invests almost half as much as state housing companies do to keep its homes in good condition.

State actors regularly spend 2x-3x their private counterparts with the same results. The difference relates to additional studies and more onerous self-imposed tendering requirements that create no additional value for the end user but allow the state to feel it has made decisions and spent taxpayer money in a justifiable way.

Everyone and their cat wants to live as close as humanly possible to the hip center of the hip city. But of course, they literally do not want to pay the price. Why is there a vegan bakery specialized in Afghan Bagel[1] around the corner? Because there are enough hip, young professionals to pay for even the most unlikely specialty. Business can afford to cater to the most extraordinary taste, but only because there are so many fluent customers. These customers then simply drive prices.

Due to the limits of public transportation, there are basically three ways out of this situation:

1. Rent ever-smaller, modernized apartments 2. Move away from the center 3. Get out of the city altogether

Modern urbanites will not pick any of these options. They want cheap, large apartments with basically no insulation and 4m high ceilings. They do not want to travel more than 10min with the subway. And the thought of leaving Berlin borders on a crime against humanity. Now add to that the part of the population that lives in the center of the city for decades and literally cannot move anymore and you have a really bad situation at hands.

IMO, it is ironic how the modern urban population that is so quick to assign blame for climate change (to car owners, carnivores), social injustice (to white men, preferably older), or simply a lack of mobile network coverage fails to understand their own contribution to the problems of a modern city.

Sorry, but I needed to vent that.

[1] Exaggeration. I don't even know if there are/were any Jews in Afghanistan, but I like good Bagel.