Campaign calls for a six-year stop to rent increases – BZ Berlin
With a four-meter-high hand in front of the Berlin Reichstag, an alliance of initiatives, organizations and the German Federation of Trade Unions has called for a nationwide stop to rent increases.
“The majority expect a respite for the next six years, in which significantly more affordable living space will be prepared,” said Lukas Siebenkotten of the German Tenants’ Association in front of the Bundestag.
Citizens have experienced a veritable “rental rally” in recent years, he said at the start of the “Rent Freeze” campaign. When it comes to building and living, the market economy is “not fundamentally wrong, but it needs corset bars,” adds.
People have a right to be able to stay in the apartment in which they have lived for decades, said the main leader of the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband, Ulrich Schneider. A rent freeze is a prerequisite for this. Tenants must be relieved of the fear of being evicted.
Better protection of tenants played an important role in the election manifestos of the SPD and the Greens. It is unclear how much of this will be reflected in a possible coalition agreement with the FDP, it said.
In addition to a general stop to rent increases, the alliance is calling for providers of apartments at fair prices such as cooperatives to be supported. Furthermore, the campaign urges the construction of affordable rental apartments, a social land right to introduce rising land prices and the introduction of non-profit housing.