Sunday December 12th 2021
“Only changes the owner structure”
Building minister thinks little of expropriations
Federal Building Minister Geywitz of the SPD has a clear goal: The traffic light coalition agreement stipulates that 400,000 apartments are to be built in Germany every year. She probably does not want to rely on expropriations.
The new Federal Building Minister, Klara Geywitz, has shown skepticism about the expropriation of large housing groups, as was called for in a referendum in Berlin. “With an expropriation not a single new apartment is created, it only changes the ownership structure,” said the SPD politician to the “Tagesspiegel”.
“My goal is to give tenants the assurance that their rent will remain affordable for the next few years.” A mix of private landlords, cooperatives or housing associations is the best protection against monopoly formation, said Geywitz.
59.1 percent of voters in Berlin voted in the referendum on September 26 for the expropriation of large real estate companies. During the negotiations on the formation of a new state government, the SPD, the Greens and the Left agreed to set up a commission of experts to examine the implementation and to be given a year to do so.
Geywitz pointed out that the coalition agreement for the new federal government made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP provides for a rent brake until 2029, a limit on rent increases in tense housing markets and an expansion of the rent index. “I will speak to the Minister of Justice to implement this as soon as possible.” If the tenant market does not relax, the SPD will talk to the coalition partners about further steps.
In addition, the Ampel parties agreed in their coalition agreement that 400,000 apartments should be built in Germany every year. At the SPD party conference on Saturday in Berlin, Geywitz said that she would like to design this comprehensive new apartment building in an ecological way. “We need a new Bauhaus movement, an ecological Bauhaus movement,” said Geywitz. Even if some are concerned that building will then be expensive, building and climate protection should not be opposed to one another. “We have to think both together,” said Geywitz. This will also make it possible for Germany to export the modern building materials of the future.