The Justice Ministry says it will not change rental laws despite the calls.
Like many Berliners, Jim Berghäuser is on the lookout for a new apartment. Living on the outskirts of the city means he’s traveling an hour and a half to get to his university.
“For me, it’s more that this living arrangement I have now is so far away from everything, and this makes people kind of lonely because if [you] always needs a lot of time to get somewhere, you don’t go somewhere that often. And I lose so much time every day to get to my university,” says Berghäuser, a law student and a member of the Alliance Against Displacement and Rent Madness.
Berlin’s Tenant Association says one of the factors making it more difficult to find a long-term home is the amount of temporary furnished apartments on offer that are not rent-controlled.
Rent prices in Germany are not allowed to be higher than 10% of the average rent in an area, but there are exceptions. One of them is if the apartment is for temporary use, and owners are allowed to charge extra if it’s furnished.
“No need to change the law”
The association says these apartments can be five times higher than the usual rent prices, and that they’re taking away supply from people who are looking for unlimited contracts that are rent-controlled. It is calling on the Justice Ministry, led by the pro-business Free Democratic Party, to strengthen tenancy laws.
The Association also wants owners to be required to show how much the furniture is worth and how much the apartment itself is being charged for, arguing this will eventually decrease exorbitant prices. But the Justice Ministry has said it will not change the law.
“It seems that FTP, the Free Democratic Party, is only in favour of the landlords and doesn’t do anything in terms of the tenants. They [don’t] do anything on changes that would regulate the market,” says Ulrike Hamann-Onnertz, managing director of the Berlin Tenants’ Association.
The Justice Ministry told Euronews that it does not see the need to change the law when it comes to furnished accommodation and that the construction of new apartments will help fight rising rents in the long term.
It cited a report done by the Oxford Economics consultancy firm for the ministry on rent control and furnished housing, which consulted that constructing new housing would increase supply.
The FDP parliamentary group told Euronews that the focus should be on building more quickly and cheaply, instead of regulations.
Crisis in house building
But rising costs and high inflation has led to a crisis in house building and the construction of housing is well below government targets.
Germany has one of the highest portions of renters versus owners in Europe. But it’s not the only one battling short term rentals.
Spain said that it would investigate companies like Airbnb to check that accommodations have licenses for tourism.
As for Jim, he says he’s gotten cynical about finding an apartment after searching for a year and a half.
“You always have this like rush of energy if you see an apartment you want, you get in contact. You know they got your message. You have a chance and you’re happy for a moment, and you get your hopes up. And then in 99% of the cases, the next day or even a few minutes later, or sometimes weeks later, you get a “no”,” Berghäuser said.
Germany’s construction minister says the government will present a strategy for people to move to the countryside to deal with the housing shortage.
