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Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

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Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#31

Post by Tomte »

mschuster91 wrote: post #24
throw4738 wrote: post #4

It is unconstitutional because it treats people unequally. New people will not find any rentable properties, and will have to stay in hotels paying 10x more. It is just another form of xenophobia.

> It is unconstitutional because it treats people unequally. Wrong, it was declared unconstitutional because only the federal government is allowed to pass such a measure. Our federal construction minister "Voll-Horst" Seehofer is free to regulate rents any time he wants, but unfortunately all he has been doing for the last four years is to deny systemic issues in police all day. > New people will not find any rentab…

> Wrong, it was declared unconstitutional because only the federal government is allowed to pass such a measure.

That's wrong. States may do it, but only if the federal level hasn't acted in that field (here: social protection for renters)

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#32

Post by throw4738 »

est31 wrote: post #25
throw4738 wrote: post #4

It is unconstitutional because it treats people unequally. New people will not find any rentable properties, and will have to stay in hotels paying 10x more. It is just another form of xenophobia.

The Berlin rent cap is different from rent caps elsewhere, say SF. The Berlin rent cap includes new contracts, too.

Not if you stay months in hotel or Airbnb. And that is only available option.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#33

Post by flohofwoe »

adrianN wrote: post #11

I wish Berlin would just build more housing instead. For example when I cross the street there is a supermarket. It's a single story building with a huge parking lot around it. Why not make it a multistory building with apartments on top of the supermarket and skip the parking space or put it underground? Why does the city give out building permits for such buildings? There could easily be room for thirty families on…

That's already happening with two Edeka markets in my neighbourhood, they teared down the old markets, and replace(d) them with new buildings with the market on the bottom floor, and flats on top. Drop in the bucket though I think.

I don't think the city is giving out new building permits for this type of stuff, and many of those markets have either been there "forever", or have been built after the reunification (and in the 90's city planners were expecting that the city would shrink further, not grow).

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#34

Post by llampx »

luckylion wrote: post #10

Keep in mind that when they say Berlin's rents are soaring, it's still comparatively cheap for large cities in Germany.

Yes but the only thing keeping the prices halfway reasonable are the laws and regulations that apply in Berlin. Without those the situation would be much worse.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#35

Post by inglor_cz »

throw4738 wrote: post #4

It is unconstitutional because it treats people unequally. New people will not find any rentable properties, and will have to stay in hotels paying 10x more. It is just another form of xenophobia.

Berlin with its Red-Red-Green government is hardly a city governed by xenophobia. OTOH, the German left is even more pro-immigration and pro-multiculturalism than an average European leftist party.

This law was probably meant against big housing corporations like Deutsches Wohnen, which bought a lot of the housing stock during previous privatizations, and so have some power on the housing market.

IMHO Berlin (just like Prague) needs to lower bureaucratic hurdles on new construction, but maybe the locals do not want that. There was a chance to turn the former Tempelhof airfield into a new neighbourhood, but a local ballot turned it down.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#36

Post by yftsui »

adrianN wrote: post #11

I wish Berlin would just build more housing instead. For example when I cross the street there is a supermarket. It's a single story building with a huge parking lot around it. Why not make it a multistory building with apartments on top of the supermarket and skip the parking space or put it underground? Why does the city give out building permits for such buildings? There could easily be room for thirty families on…

Because the road and other related infrastructure may not be ready for the increased FAR ratio yet?

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#38

Post by raverbashing »

adrianN wrote: post #11

I wish Berlin would just build more housing instead. For example when I cross the street there is a supermarket. It's a single story building with a huge parking lot around it. Why not make it a multistory building with apartments on top of the supermarket and skip the parking space or put it underground? Why does the city give out building permits for such buildings? There could easily be room for thirty families on…

Compared to other capitals in Europe, they are doing it. It's of course a slow process, but it exists.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#39

Post by mschuster91 »

adrianN wrote: post #11

I wish Berlin would just build more housing instead. For example when I cross the street there is a supermarket. It's a single story building with a huge parking lot around it. Why not make it a multistory building with apartments on top of the supermarket and skip the parking space or put it underground? Why does the city give out building permits for such buildings? There could easily be room for thirty families on…

> I wish Berlin would just build more housing instead.

The problem is: Berlin can't. There is not much free space for new construction in Berlin proper, with the exception of "Nachverdichtung" such as you propose with apartments over parking lots - and these have the downside that they are horribly expensive, simply because it costs potential developers a lot of money to acquire the land!

The solution would be to build out internet connectivity and public transport in the suburbs in Brandenburg so that employers don't all concentrate in Berlin.

Re: Berlin rent cap overturned by Germany's top court

#40

Post by oleganza »

adrianN wrote: post #11

I wish Berlin would just build more housing instead. For example when I cross the street there is a supermarket. It's a single story building with a huge parking lot around it. Why not make it a multistory building with apartments on top of the supermarket and skip the parking space or put it underground? Why does the city give out building permits for such buildings? There could easily be room for thirty families on…

My impression of Berlin (living there for the last 2 years) is that there's plenty of space, plenty of new housing already built and plenty of new construction still going. SF, NY, Paris and London are way more crowded and under-housed in comparison. Shitty one-story supermarkets are really just a sign of abundance of space and not enough demand (yet). Among big European cities the rent seems low. You can buy an super-duper-lux apartment for ~$1M in the very center of the city that in the next 10 years can easily go for $5M if Berlin is to continue to grow the way it does.
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