Ines Schwerdtner, the head of Die Linke (The Left), has issued a clarification regarding her earlier statements about rent prices in Berlin following her comments that rents would continue to rise despite the implementation of housing socialization. Speaking to the news portal “T-Online” on Tuesday, Schwerdtner stated that “socialization ends the extreme rent hikes perpetuated by the real estate mafia.”
She further clarified that while landlords might be allowed to increase rents by 15 percent over three years, in subsidized and socialized apartments, the annual cap would be limited to two percent. This means the maximum increase over three years would be around six percent. She emphasized that this significantly reduces the scope for rent increases by more than half, but stressed that the two percent figure is a ceiling and does not have to be fully utilized to ensure that properties remain well maintained and service for tenants is maintained.
This clarification follows a television appearance on Sunday during “Bosetti Late Night,” where Schwerdtner had indicated that rent increases in socialized dwellings would be capped at two percent per year. She also noted that she had never promised that rents would fall. This position contrasts with the Berlin Left party’s election program, which advocated for housing socialization “so that rents decrease.”
Schwertdtner now affirmed that The Left intends to do everything possible to make housing affordable in Berlin. She acknowledged that many rents are currently too high, with many being illegal, and promised that these illicit rates would be lowered. To achieve this, the state government would establish a new rent supervisory body designed to take decisive action against illegal rental practices. Furthermore, she asserted that after a property is socialized, not a single euro will go to shareholders; instead, the funds will be reinvested into good and affordable housing within Berlin.
In comparison to the real estate mafia, she contends that rents in socialized properties are significantly lower, and this gap grows each year. The party leader also vowed that, in socialized housing, tenants will no longer have their wage increases eaten up by soaring rent costs, thereby allowing them more disposable income. She concluded by promising that a Berlin government run by Die Linke will build more housing than its predecessors.
