Amid the housing crisis plaguing many cities, the CDU Economic Council, a representative body associated with the CDU party, has introduced a proposal for a “vacancy levy” aimed at subsidized residential housing. This initiative, reported by “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” following a position paper intended for the governmental Rent Law Commission, aims to address the sustainability of current subsidy rules.
Wolfgang Steiger, General Secretary of the Economic Council, used an example to highlight the structural problem: currently, an individual who received a certificate for subsidized housing-such as a medical student-can continue living in the same subsidized property for life, even if they later become highly paid professionals, thereby relying on public funds. According to Steiger, the current system means that favorable subsidized conditions remain in place for life, completely independent of how a person’s individual income develops. He stressed that this situation is unfair and must be terminated.
Beyond the levy, the Economic Council also suggests a concept involving greater flexibility in rent pricing, provided this is paired with enhanced social subsidies. Steiger elaborated that this means ideally abolishing the rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) and removing the existing capping limit on rent increases. Furthermore, he demanded that the modernization surcharge also needs to be thoroughly reviewed.
