Politicians, the real estate industry and tenants’ organizations in Berlin spent six months negotiating faster construction and cheaper housing. An agreement on the results has now been signed.
After around six months of negotiations, the Berlin Alliance for New Residential Construction and Affordable Housing has agreed on a series of measures designed to speed up construction in the capital and curb rent increases.
Senate members, district mayors, representatives of cooperatives, real estate companies and industry associations signed a joint agreement in the Rotes Rathaus.
However, the Berlin Tenants’ Association and the Central Real Estate Committee (ZIA) had previously announced that they would not support the declaration. The real estate group Heimstaden was also not part of the party, but will follow suit, assured Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) after the signing ceremony. She assumes that the list of signatories will continue to grow. “We have achieved more than is even discussed in other federal states.”
100,000 new homes
According to the 22-page agreement, at least 100,000 new apartments are to be completed in Berlin by the end of 2026, half of them in the lower and middle price segment. Development plans for this should be available within three years. At the same time, up to 5,000 social housing units are to be subsidized each year – 740 million euros are earmarked for this in the budget for 2022 and 2023.
In addition, the large private housing companies have committed themselves to reserving 30 percent of the apartments to tenants who are entitled to a housing entitlement certificate (WBS). The alliance partners have also agreed that there should be no increases in the net cold rent, which would lead to a burden of more than 30 percent of the net household income for households entitled to WBS.
And the large private housing companies will in future be guided by the cap for rent increases of 11 percent in three years. This is also planned in the federal government, but it is not yet certain when. Berlin prefers the regulation to a certain extent.
Building Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) admitted that 100,000 apartments by the end of 2026 was a very ambitious goal. “We will all have to make an effort together.”
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
