The real estate sector has affirmed its reservations following comments from Die Linke’s leader, Ines Schwerdtner, regarding the socialization of housing. Aygül Özkan, the Chief Executive of the Central Real Estate Committee (ZIA), told the “Rheinische Post” that the argument for expropriation is “finally refuted” if even proponents of socialization admit that rents will still rise afterward.
According to Özkan, socialization does not generate a single new apartment, nor does it solve the housing crisis; indeed, it apparently does not even stabilize rents. She argues that, at best, it represents the redeployment of billions of Euros in existing ownership structures, which would not change the fundamental housing shortage. Özkan emphasizes that Berlin and Germany require a housing policy designed to mobilize private capital, rather than driving it away. Her stance is that “affordable housing only comes into existence where investment takes place.”
Schwerdtner had previously stated during the 3sat program “Bosetti Late Night” that increases in rental prices remain possible, even following the implementation of socialization. She asserted that she could not promise any individual tenant that their rent would decrease, describing such a promise as “unserious.”
