Rental price brake extended: Tenant association urgently demands improvements!

Rental price brake extended: Tenant association urgently demands improvements!

Berlin, Deutschland - The Federal Government has decided to extend the rental price brake by December 31, 2029. This regulation, which was launched in 2015, has the goal of slowing down the increase in living space rents in metropolitan areas. In the event of a new letting, rents may be a maximum of 10% above the local comparative rent. The Berlin tenant association sees the extension as a positive step, but demands extensive improvements to increase the effectiveness of the measure. In particular, the tenant association criticizes that new buildings that have been completed since 2014 are excluded from the rental price brake. The tenant association sees this regulation, which enables new buildings to request higher rents, as eleven -year -old houses should no longer be considered new. Comprehensive modernizations are also excluded from the rental price brake, which can lead to abuse. Apartments that are rented at short notice are also not affected.

The tenant association calls for a better regulation for temporary rentals, especially for furnished apartments. This would be an important step to combat rent increases in this area. In addition, the tenant association is in favor of a greater regulation of the housing market and supports the socialization of large housing companies, which was already supported by a majority as part of a referendum in 2021.

protection for tenants

The currently planned extension of the rental price brake is considered necessary in order to continue to offer the tenants some protection. Dr. Stefanie Hubig, Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, spoke out for the extension because the existing regulations expire at the end of the year. She emphasizes that the topic of tenant protection is a question of justice and that it is a first step in a larger context. The federal government sees the rental price brake as part of a comprehensive strategy to get rental prices under control and prevent the displacement of tenants from their residential areas.

Especially in Berlin, where the rental cover in 2020 was introduced and in 2021 was lifted by the Federal Constitutional Court, the discussions about effective rent protection are intensive. The rental cover allowed tenants to reject excessive rents and was considered a promising approach to the steadily increasing rental prices. The tenant association and other initiatives continue to work to ensure that a nationwide regulation is implemented in the form of a rental cover in order to find a permanent solution to the problem of rising rents.

• Campaign "Rental cover now!" Starts a few weeks before the Bundestag election on February 23rd.
• Regulation of rental heights through defined upper limits in new rentals.
• exaggeration of rents can be lowered to the specified upper limits.