After a year, Berlin’s experiment with rent control is a failure
Rents may be down, but so is the supply of homes
“I WORRY ABOUT Berlin,” says Rolf Buch, a born and bred Rhinelander. The chief executive of Vonovia, Europe’s biggest residential-property firm, thinks that the city’s policy of capping rents has achieved little good, but caused severe collateral damage. Even if the federal Constitutional Court declares the rent cap unconstitutional in the next few months, as many expect it to do, Berlin will not go back to the status quo ante. Protests are here to stay, Mr Buch reckons.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “A disaster foretold”
Europe March 13th 2021
- A protracted swell of cases highlights Europe’s vaccine problems
- Italy’s new prime minister upends the country’s political parties
- After a year, Berlin’s experiment with rent control is a failure
- The many colours of German coalitions
- European censuses are being disrupted by covid-19
- Why leave the EU, when you can shape it instead?
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