More than 700,000 tenants in Berlin will benefit from the stop. However, the plan is financed from taxes Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild/Private
By Sara Orlos Fernandes
A rent freeze now applies to state-owned housing associations. But what about the other Berliners? A comment from BZ editor Sara Orlos Fernandes.
The rent stop for tenants of state-owned housing associations is a clever move by Senator Andreas Geisel. Four months before a possible repeat election, Red-Green-Red puts on their generous pants. Is that a coincidence?
Even if many will benefit from the relief in the coming year, the aid will not make all voters happy. Because the majority of Berliners have nothing to do with Geisel’s plans. The crisis affects all tenants in the city.
Instead of compensating for the millions in losses that state-owned landlords are facing due to the frozen rents, the money could have been distributed to Berliners. Everyone would benefit from a payment to compensate for increased rental costs.