Immobilienkonzerne enteignen? Berlin streitet über Lösungen für die Wohnungsnot

In the past five years, Berliners voted to collectivize 240,000 apartments but little has changed since. The debate over solutions to Berlin's housing crisis is heating up ahead of elections, which could bring serious problems to Germany. Every Berliner knows at least one person searching for a home in the city with no luck. Desperate, some resort to unusual methods like hanging posters on streetlights or applying blindly for vacant apartments in their neighborhood, listing age, occupation, budget, phone number, and sometimes even a financial incentive for their landlord's recommendation.

Next Sunday, Berliners will vote for new representatives in the House of Representatives, with all parties trying to promote their housing policies as the central issue in the German capital's election campaign. While various candidates promise more affordable housing, they disagree on the causes of the housing crisis, with left-wing politicians blaming real estate giants and demanding widespread expropriations.

The initiative "Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co." was successful in 2021, leading to a popular vote asking big real estate companies with over 3,000 apartments in Berlin to turn their assets into public property. Around 59% of participating Berliners agreed. However, as a non-binding resolution, it did not influence the law. The Berlin Senate, led by a coalition of SPD, Greens, and Left, set up an expert commission that concluded legally, expropriation is feasible.

But the CDU-SPD coalition, which has governed Berlin since 2023, passed a "Collectivization Framework Act" in spring 2026, which allows municipal governments to transfer land and buildings to public ownership under certain conditions. Yet, real estate companies have not taken any action, as the Berlin government wanted to politically water down the expropriation demand by calling it an "instrument box" for the Senate's actions.

Kai Wegner, Berlin's governing mayor and CDU politician, explicitly stated that expropriations will not solve any problems. Five years after the popular vote, no expropriations have happened. Now, the situation might change as candidates debate the extent of implementing the popular vote in their election campaigns. Left Party candidate Elif Eralp is most vehement about fully implementing the popular vote, even if it will take "some time," but the party only wants to form a coalition with other parties that support this plan.

The party could join forces with the Greens, who consider collectivization "legally possible and financially viable" in their election program. However, it seems unlikely that the two parties will receive enough votes to form a coalition government, and they may need another partner, such as the SPD. While SPD candidate Steffen Krach opposes collectivization, he claims there are better ways to provide more affordable housing in Berlin, such as stricter rent laws and strict enforcement of anti-gentrification measures, including prison sentences.

Other parties, like the AfD and FDP, also oppose collectivization, and the CDU, which could become the strongest party, is against implementing the popular vote. Their candidate, Stefan Evers, argues that mass expropriations will only make the problem worse. The core issue is a shortage of housing supply in Berlin, with the city's population growing rapidly (around 5% more in 2025 compared to 2015) and construction activity declining.

Despite an increase in approved construction projects in 2025, it remains insufficient to alleviate the housing situation.