Berlin continues fight for affordable housing

The local government has spent another 1 billion euros for apartments

The fight against the ever-increasing real estate and rent prices in the German capital keep on going with the local government buying up even more apartments.

Over the past few months the problem of lack of affordable housing made it to the top of the agenda in Berlin and authorities have been making attempts to remedy the situation.

Taking matters into their own hands

Their first course of action was to freeze the rent prices in the city for the next five years. A short while later, the local government embarked on the path of re-nationalizing apartments by buying 670 flats at the Karl Marx Allee.

The local government of Berlin’s efforts to secure affordable housing led to the administration getting into a fight with some of the biggest local apartment owners who have been investing in the renovation of apartments.

They have threatened to move their investments away from the capital to other countries who would be more welcoming and accommodating when it comes to restrictions on rent prices.

Pricing issues

The mayor of Berlin Michael Müller is continuing with this somewhat controversial plan of action. Recently the capital purchased a further 6,000 apartments for 1 billion euros from private owners.

The flats were built as social housing between 1960 and 1990 but were sold off in 2004. The price now payed by the city is more than double what it made in 2004 when these same apartments were privatized for a total of 400 million euros.

The steep price has been dubbed a waste of money by politicians of the opposition, but authorities remain adamant that the efforts in helping ease access to affordable housing for citizens will be worth it.