Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has judged the ban on expropriating real estate companies, which Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) announced, to be highly critical. Speaking to the Handelsblatt, Hubig stated that a blanket prohibition is certainly not feasible.
However, she also clarified that establishing a comprehensive law for the socialization of housing stocks would be far from simple. Legal experts have expressed doubts about whether such a measure could be legally constitutional. Nevertheless, the Justice Minister indicated that she does not see it as completely impossible.
Merz had announced a law following the recent coalition committee meeting that would prohibit the seizure of housing development companies. The impetus for this proposal stems from the successful popular vote in Berlin promoting the socialization of its housing stock, which must now be implemented by the Senate and the Assembly of Representatives.
Hubig explained that while the Basic Law (Article 15) generally permits the socialization of land, natural resources, and means of production, Article 14, which guarantees property rights, holds a very strong position and forms a difficult tension. This conflict is demonstrated by the fact that no precedent for Article 15 or socialization has been applied or established in case law so far.
While assuring that she is not engaging in an expropriation debate, the SPD politician emphasized that her primary goal is ensuring affordable housing. She stressed that rising rents are a genuinely real problem for citizens, not just in Berlin but in many other cities as well.
