Before the housing summit this Monday, Green Party leader Ricarda Lang is calling for tenants’ rights to be strengthened. “Given the tense situation on the housing market, new construction is part of the solution, but it is not enough on its own. The traffic light should now also address the problem in terms of rent policy,” she told the newspapers of the Funke media group. The rapidly rising rents would “become a stress test right down to the middle of society.”
After the summit, work must continue straight away: “This country needs a tenant protection offensive for affordable housing. It is now time to make progress on tenancy law reform, tightening rent controls and caps and limiting index rents.” In index rental agreements, the rents can be increased annually based on the value of the consumer price index of the Federal Statistical Office. With this variant, there is no adjustment of the rent to the local comparative rent.
Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge referred to the agreed extension of the rent cap in the red-green-yellow coalition agreement. This must finally be initiated, she told the newspapers. “In view of high inflation, so-called index rental agreements are becoming a problem for tenants. Regulating these creates security and fairness.” She expects “a clear signal for social housing” from the housing summit. Social housing must be preserved in the long term.
According to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the so-called housing construction summit will discuss “very specific things” about how more apartments can be built. Associations in the construction industry are calling for an aid package with tax relief, fewer rules and more funding. Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) has promised to expand existing programs and also new aid.
