The Berlin administration’s decision to freeze rents for some 1.5 million apartments in a bid to make living in the German capital more affordable has evoked a somewhat negative reaction from Germany’s Christian Democrats, the main opposition party in the city’s government.
In a statement issued on 23 February, the party’s Berlin faction insists that "the law is not a solution for the continuing housing shortage", and that "the freeze does not help anybody if, in the end, saved rent has to possibly be paid back".
Critics of this new initiative also claim that this move will lead to landlords becoming reluctant to invest in house renovations as they would be unable to increase the rent afterwards.
The "freeze" is expected to maintain the rents for apartments constructed prior to 2014 on the same level for the next five years, as the skyrocketing rental prices during recent years led to middle class families being pushed from the central residential neighborhoods to the outskirts, with even the “traditionally working class and immigrant neighborhoods like Neukoelln or Kreuzberg" becoming "so gentrified" that long-time tenants there cannot afford the growing rents, according to AP.
The head of the German Tenants Association argued that "it is correct that Berlin tries to stop the spiraling rent costs".
The situation is further exacerbated by the housing shortage in Berlin which makes it problematic to find affordable accommodation for newcomers or tenants who got evicted due to not being able to pay the rent for their previous residence.
