W hen Berlin votes on September 20th, housing policy could be decisive. The SPD has made a new proposal. How should it be evaluated? The two taz editors agree on this Radar Clothes and Erik Peter not agreed.
Clothes Radar: Die Berlin’s SPD was behind when it came to rents for a long time. But now she has surprisingly returned. With a new rent cap The rents of 1.4 million private apartments are to be frozen and the profits of private companies are to be capped. Because the first rent cap failed in Karlsruhe in 2021, socialization paragraph 15 in the Basic Law should now be used. Apparently the SPD has understood that it has to deliver in the upcoming rent election campaign.
Eric Peter: Really? Isn’t the SPD the party that was responsible for the 132 percent increase in asking rents in the city over the past 15 years like no other? Social democratic rent policy was mostly the blind focus on new construction and the rejection of the 2021 by the majority of Berliners socialization demanded by a referendum of private housing companies. And that’s exactly what the SPD is concerned about now. The referendum is interpreted as a mandate to apply Section 15, but not to take over state-owned private companies.
Works: That’s right. SPD top candidate Steffen Krach does not want expropriation. For the Left, which has a good chance of taking over the office of governing mayor in the September elections, the implementation of the referendum is the prerequisite for entering into a coalition. However, this can only be argued by someone who can prove that the competition has no concept. Then socialization remains, so to speak, no alternative. But now the SPD also has a concept.
Peter: What the SPD is proposing here is nothing other than regulation of housing management – limiting rent increases and purchased social ties. It’s good to think about it, but playing it off against socialization remains dishonest and undemocratic. In addition, the argumentative path via the socialization principle is extremely shaky and could end in another disaster in Karlsruhe. Socialization will also end up there, but its conceptual implementation has been examined in detail and found to be feasible.
Works: And then there are the costs, of course, also a topic that can still be debated. What is important, however, is that a future government coalition made up of the Left, the Greens and the SPD now has several proposals on the table. Is it wise for the left to draw a red line? With this concept, the SPD may also be able to join a coalition with the Greens and CDU. This would automatically apply to Berlin if the Left Party, for whatever reason, does not want to govern. What’s interesting is that CDU Prime Minister Kai Wegner did not reject the SPD’s demands across the board.
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Peter: Berlin has become priceless. The left’s red line is not only the right thing to do in terms of urban politics, but also a sheer necessity in order to be credible as a party. If the SPD blocks this, it will continue to be responsible for the city’s rent woes. And with the CDU she will never get her nice new ideas through,
Works: Wait. The Black and Red coalition may adopt a stricter rent law before the elections. Then the Left Party is under pressure. The election campaign will be exciting.