Bushman against regulation
FDP discards cap on index rents
2/8/2023 2:07 am
Housing construction is in crisis and the pressure on traffic lights is increasing. While the Greens and SPD would prefer to regulate index leases that are linked to high inflation, the FDP opposes them. Justice Minister Buschmann calls for structural reforms instead.
Despite rising rents and setbacks in housing construction, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann rejects legal changes to indexed leases. The FDP politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group that he saw no “immediate need for regulation” here. Demands for stronger regulation of these inflation-linked contracts sound popular, Buschmann explained. The truth is, however, that tenants’ associations had made positive statements about index leases until recently.
Especially in metropolitan areas, the general cost of living has risen much more slowly over many years than the local comparative rents. Tenants with index leases were therefore often better off than tenants with normal leases. Buschmann admitted, however, that this is currently changing. He wanted to at least “keep an eye on” the situation.
Housing construction better than tightening the rental price brake
In response to demands from the SPD and the Greens for a tightening of the rental price brake, Buschmann referred to other projects from the coalition agreement that had not yet been implemented: He had the impression “that some of their excitement may only want to hide their own failures in housing policy,” said Buschmann the Funke newspapers. In addition to the adjustments in tenancy law, the traffic light coalition has also set itself the goal of building 400,000 new apartments a year. “Unfortunately, we are lagging behind,” criticized the Minister of Justice. “A larger supply of rental space would be the most effective way to avoid rising rents.”
On Sunday, the Greens called for index rents to be regulated. “Index rents are a problem that we have to tackle,” said Katharina Dröge, co-chair of the Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag. “Inflation has risen so much that it will be a shock for many tenants when the increase comes.”