The party Linke is criticizing Federal Minister of Construction Verena Hubertz (SPD) for announcing a federal law aimed at protecting property from expropriation. Luigi Pantisano, the leader of Linke, told the newspaper “Welt” that the SPD appears to have lost its political compass, claiming they are doing everything possible to protect the interests of the real estate lobby. He argued that while many people are struggling to pay their rent, Hubertz is positioning herself as a patron of the real estate lobby, which he suggests is a betrayal to renters.
Hubertz’s initial announcement was referred to as an “investment protection law,” intended to prevent the forced seizure of housing. Plans for such measures had previously been debated by the Berlin chapter of Linke, led by faction chairman Elif Eralp.
Conversely, Pantisano is demanding that the unchecked market power of large corporations be limited and that housing be returned to public ownership. The Linke leader further stated that it is “truly incredible how both the Union and the SPD want to prevent housing from being returned to the people by all means possible.”
Hubertz’s stance directly challenges the majority in Berlin, who voted for the social ownership of large real estate corporations in the 2021 September referendum.
However, Pantisano countered Hubertz by rejecting the argument that social ownership stops the creation of new housing, arguing that this ignores the fact that companies like Vonovia are currently failing to build almost any new housing. Instead, he stated the issue concerns the residents of approximately 240,000 dwellings and their ability to afford them. He concluded that their strategy must be to pull all levers, not in alliance with the lobby, but against it, asserting that “public actors must once again decide where things are going.”
