2.5.4 / Alternatives / Who expropriates whom?

Berlin is a city of tenants. 82% live in a rented flat. According to research by the Tagesspiegel newspaper, half of them are afraid of losing their homes because of rent increases. New rents have doubled in Berlin since 2008. Existing rents have

risen by 40%, while tenants' incomes increased by only 15% on average in the same period. "So existing tenants are being dispossessed of 25% by their rent payment every month," says Humboldt University Professor Joseph Vogl. "When rent and land prices rise, an ever-larger share of tenants’ income is transferred to outside capital assets." Josef Vogl is a co-founder of the Berlin petition for a referendum "Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co". Working groups from Humboldt University, various local administrations and citizens' groups such as Forum Potsdam initiated this petition after years of preparatory work. And their choice of Berlin was no accident.

After the First World War, the city's housing construction had been subordinated to the common good. There were absolute rent limits and from 1924 a house interest tax for large property owners. With this revenue, entire neighbourhoods were created under municipal and cooperative responsibility, in which the right to adequate housing for low-income earners applied. Examples like the Britzer Hufeisensiedlung and the city’s programme of house construction show that Berlin was once a pioneer of better housing under public ownership. These houses are still very much in demand today. After the Second World War, housing construction and tenancy law remained regulated until 1990. "Until then, Berlin was an open metropolis that welcomed everyone -- beyond stature and income. But then a market-based policy opened this field to the market and investors," explains Ralf Hoffrogge of "Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co". This is how Berlin also became prey for capital from all over the world looking to invest in the city’s "concrete gold".

After the first stage of the referendum and the legal assessment, "Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co" will start the second round in spring 2021.