This seems like it could be dangerous as it creates incentives for slumlords. If the landlords need to raise rent but they can't, then the only way for them to turn a profit is to cut their expenses.
Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
281–290 of 594 posts
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#282If affordable housing is an issue, then perhaps the government should provide it for its citizens, like building huge high-rises in Berlin. I used to rent in an expensive city but bought a cheap house in the suburbs (thankfully I work remotely). Everything is cheaper out here, from gas to utilities to food. But I did experience classism from my friends and family: there is status living in a world-class city. And hav…
> If affordable housing is an issue, then perhaps the government should provide it for its citizens
We already pay very high taxes in Berlin and not really getting much back from it (police, firefighters, cleaning services, public transit, even government offices are heavily underfunded). This idea would only make the taxes higher or take away much needed money from other areas.
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did nobody think that to invest, you need to have liquidity? It's called LIQUID for a reason. If another place has better investment opportunities, the investment will simply cease. Why would anyone take their LIQUID assets and put it into real estate (in german it's called IMMOBILIEN, meaning immovables to make it clear) in a place that actively discourages return on invest?
In some cities that would absolutely be an issue. However in this specific case I don't believe Berlin will ever lack for real estate investment. In other popular cities we've just seen the type of investor change, from opportunistic to activist.
I'm curious about this, which cities with those be?
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#284Symptom: rents are too high Cause: insufficient housing supply Solution: disincentivize new construction?
Nope. New buildings are exempt.
... for now.
But there's a funny thing about investors: They look at what governments have done in the past to judge the risk of things happening in the future. Set a precedent that you'll meddle in the market for political reasons, and every potential real estate investor will be worried that you'll do it again in the future -- even if you're not doing it to them yet.
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#285Earlier quoted context omitted.
No it is an indication that people are cheap and a person who bought a apartment as an investment now makes 30-60€ a night vs about 600 a month. There is a reason hotels are expensive. Airbnb does the same as uber. They start a business with either exploits a loophole or is illegal. Btw. at least in austria, if you want to rent your apartment on such a plattform you have to clear it with everyone who lives in that ho…
> if you want to rent your apartment on such a plattform you have to clear it with everyone who lives in that house. I love this idea. My friend currently lives in a building in Brooklyn where a person rents out rooms in his apartment on AirBnB and it's been nothing but an annoyance since day one. I'm glad NYC has put some restrictions on AirBnB .
Chiming in as an NYC resident:
I'm _extremely_ grateful that my current lease, as well as the upcoming one that I hope to sign if my application is approved, explicitly spells out the penalties for renting out apartments on Airbnb as a fee equivalent to 2 months rent immediately applied to the tenant.
It's been a massive improvement to not have to deal with the externalities that come from sharing a building with Airbnb guests.
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#286If affordable housing is an issue, then perhaps the government should provide it for its citizens, like building huge high-rises in Berlin. I used to rent in an expensive city but bought a cheap house in the suburbs (thankfully I work remotely). Everything is cheaper out here, from gas to utilities to food. But I did experience classism from my friends and family: there is status living in a world-class city. And hav…
Last thing I heard, high buildings are mostly infeasible in Berlin due to the unstable underground. You can't build New York everywhere...
Yes but we can at least grow the city up to the 6th floor. There's so many building that barely reach the 4th.
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#287I think the main reason why this makes me so angry is because it's Berlin, again, doing something fiscally irresponsible that the rest of the country is going to have to finance in the long run. How I imagine it to go down would be like this: Today the politicians pat themselves on the back for their progressive stance on this topic. In year 2 of the rent freeze most of the property investment will have seized, new c…
> I think the main reason why this makes me so angry is because it's Berlin, again, doing something fiscally irresponsible that the rest of the country is going to have to finance in the long run.
This is perfectly stated. Not looking forward to possible SPD+Grüne+Linke coalition in Bundestag.
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#288As much as I can sympathise with the predicament, this decision, and the Berlin housing market in general, absolutely baffles me. When I moved here I was warned of 100 people turning up to a flat viewing, and laughed it off as some hyperbole. Only later did I find out that it actually happens , albeit the maximum viewing I went to was around a meagre 50. Having come from the UK, I found the situation in Berlin to be…
> I found the situation in Berlin to be absolutely ridiculous. I totally agree with this assessment. I've never seen a city where you struggle to get a flat even if you have the money or can pay more. The market is absolutely broken with literally everyone competing for the same pool of flats.
This is a terse comment with not a lot of context, but I think it is misleading to say the "market is broken" as it suggests that the market mechanism is at fault but in reading these comments it sounds like the government regulations are the source of the problem.
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#289At best you'll produce consumer surplus for lucky renters, and you'll produce sad outsiders who'd be willing to to pay even more but can't get in. Everyone knows this is an issue with insufficient supply (of housing or of nice alternative places to live) but it is popular to put a ban on symptoms.
Yeah, not everyone has to live in Berlin. Better that the current citizens have reasonable living conditions than everyone paying through their nose. Everyone knows about supply and demand, few know what the situation's like in Berlin or even care to find out before supplying us with economic platitudes for which there is little if any demand at all.
Better that the current citizens have reasonable living conditions...
What makes current citizens more deserving than the people who want to live in Berlin but won't be able to due to policies which reduce the supply of housing?
Re: Berlin approves 5-year rent freeze
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
Berlin doesn't need landlords. It needs homes for people.
This. Cities don't want or need more landlords. It needs more landOWNER residents.
What’s so good about owning? Renting is way better, if it’s affordable:
- I can move out when my life circumstances change.
- I can move out when the district changes.
- I don’t need to take a credit just for living somewhere.
- I don’t need to worry about people renting my apartments.
- I don’t need to worry about maintenance.
If you have the money to buy fine, but for most people renting is way better.