The German federal government is not planning any regulation of commercial rents. This conclusion follows a ministerial answer from the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to the Greens’ parliamentary inquiry, reported by “Tagesspiegel” on Thursday. In her response, Parliamentary State Secretary Sabine Poschmann (SPD) wrote that “no urgent legislative need is apparent at present”.
She added that while the coalition agreement contained several measures concerning tenancy law, it did not cover commercial rents. “Regulations for business property prices are not included” she clarified.
Opposition pressure comes from Hanna Steinmüller, the Green party’s deputy chair on the Bundestag’s Construction Committee. She argues that rent increases affect not only homes but also local bakeries, neighbourhood community centres and physiotherapy clinics. “For many small shops this means permanent closures” she warned the newspaper.
Steinmüller criticised the government’s inaction, calling for reliable data via a commercial rent index and stronger legal safeguards through a “social commercial rent law”. While residential housing benefits from a price‑control brake and other instruments designed to curb runaway price spikes, no equivalent framework exists for commercial real estate.
In fact, nationwide commercial rent has risen by roughly ten percent between early 2021 and the end of 2025.
