Regensburg law professor Thorsten Kingreen has expressed substantial skepticism regarding the Investment Protection Law planned by Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), specifically noting that the law establishes high hurdles for the socialization of housing corporations. Speaking to the newspapers of “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Tuesday editions), Kingreen described the legal landscape as “quite slick ice.”
The public law, social law, and health law professor at the University of Regensburg also advised against politically rejecting the prospect of socialization, warning that a decision from Karlsruhe (the Federal Constitutional Court) could potentially undermine their stance.
Kingreen explained that if the federal legislature respects its competence vis-à-vis the states, it must demonstrate that the matter requires uniform national regulation-a claim he does not see supported. The jurist further questioned whether the legislation amounts to a preventive measure, noting that the requirements proposed by Dobrindt would effectively render socialization impossible. Although Kingreen stated such a de facto preventive law has no inhibitory power over the states, he added that a simple law cannot strengthen the requirements of Constitutional Article 15.
Meanwhile, Greens Member of the Bundestag Hanna Steinmüller pointed to the corresponding referendum in Berlin, stating that the majority support for socialization was a “desperate appeal” from Berliners seeking more affordable housing and limits on rapidly rising rents. Steinmüller criticized the federal government for devoting all its energy to the supposed prohibition of socialization, rather than focusing on affordable construction and tenant protection.
In contrast, Dirk Salewski, head of the BFW real estate association, backed Dobrindt. Speaking to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland,” Salewski asserted that an Investment Protection Law could prevent the worst possible outcomes, arguing that the process of socialization would halt rapid progress in housing construction.
