Original title: Berlin municipal government issued new regulations: banning rent increases for five years
In the face of rising housing rents and public protests, the Berlin municipal government decided to ban rent increases for five years. Berlin is the first administrative region at the federal state level in Germany to adopt this provision. At the same time, this measure has also attracted many disputes.
Implemented no later than January 2020
According to the reports of German television one (ARD), Berlin Brandenburg radio (RBB), Berlin Morning Post and other media, on June 18 local time, the Berlin municipal government reached an agreement on the provisions of the 'mietedeckel' to prohibit the rent increase within five years.
It is reported that after the Berlin municipal government meeting held on the 18th, Catlin & middot, a municipal councilor in charge of urban development and Housing Affairs and a left-wing party member; Katrin lompscher said at the press conference that the municipal government had reached an agreement on the formulation of the rent ceiling, and her department would submit the relevant draft law before October this year. After that, the Berlin City Council will vote on it. RBB said it was difficult for opposition parties in parliament to block the passage of the law.
However, Der Spiegel weekly said that the ruling party in Berlin had also had differences of opinion on this measure.
Berlin is an independent 'city state', which is at the same level as the federal state and is equivalent to a municipality directly under the central government in China. Its current municipal government is composed of the Social Democratic Party, the left party and the green party.
According to ARD, this measure will be implemented in January 2020 at the latest, but its effect can be traced back to June 18 this year, which is to prevent house renters from raising prices during this period, but it is still unclear whether this retrospective effect can be implemented at the legal level.
However, it is reported that recently, a large number of house renters in Berlin have increased their rents before the introduction of the rent freeze.
Applicable to 1.5 million homes, with exceptions
Combing the reports of German media, the key points of this provision are as follows:
The rent freeze will apply to about 1.5 million rental houses without price control in Berlin, but not to first-time rental houses, new houses and social welfare houses.
If the current rent is too high, the rent can be reduced upon application, but the specific price of the rent ceiling has not been determined in the regulations.
If the lessor encounters economic difficulties, he can apply for an increase in rent after approval by the relevant departments. The media pointed out that this is mainly due to the consideration of some small lessors with low debt solvency; If the tenant has financial difficulties, he can also apply for social welfare housing according to the regulations.
After the lessor renovates the house, if the rent is increased, it also needs to be approved. If the increase range of gross heating rent (gross heating rent refers to the rent including heating and other additional expenses) after renovation is less than 50 euro cents / square meter, it only needs to be reported to the relevant departments; If the increased rent is higher than this price, approval is required.
If these Regulations are violated, the Lessor will be fined up to 500000 euros.
Different external evaluations
External evaluations of this measure vary. The housing industry and opposition parties in the Berlin City Council, such as the CDU and the Liberal Democratic Party, attacked the measure. It was also pointed out that there were legal problems with this provision. Media analysis said that the law in Berlin may finally need to be decided by the German federal court.
In addition, the left-wing party group of the German Federal Parliament and some members of the Social Democratic Party hope to extend this measure to the whole country, while the Alliance Party composed of the CDU and the CDU opposes it.
Der Spiegel weekly said that this provision is the first in German history. Berlin will become a "Laboratory for the protection of tenants' rights and interests". Other big cities in Germany, such as Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Cologne, will also pay close attention to the trend of Berlin.
This measure also attracted the attention of many media outside Germany. They also compared the rental market in Germany with that in other European countries.
Germany is known for its high rental rate and perfect rental mechanism, but the rapid rise of rent in recent years has aroused public dissatisfaction. According to the earlier report of Der Spiegel, citing the data of empirica, a research institution, from 2008 to 2018, the average monthly rent of a 60-80 square meter house in Berlin soared from 5.14 euros / square meter to 9.7 euros / square meter, an increase of nearly 90%.
In April this year, residents in many parts of Germany organized demonstrations to protest the shortage of housing and the rise of rent. Berlin citizens also launched a referendum calling on the government to expropriate the properties of private rental companies.