Living - Limiting rent increases: Plans meet with criticism
The Rhineland-Palatinate state government intends to expand the rent cap boundary to limit rent increases and has drawn criticism from the Haus und Grund landlords' association. A draft bill for such a state regulation proposes that more communes will be considered areas with a tight housing market in the future, and the boundary will apply accordingly, as the Finance Ministry in Mainz announced in response to an inquiry.
The rent cap refers to something different than the rent brake, as it applies to existing rents and regulates that these cannot be increased by more than 20 percent within three years, at most up to the local comparable rent. In defined areas with a tight housing market, a maximum increase of 15 percent within three years is allowed, at most up to the local comparable rent.
Besides Mainz, Trier, Landau, and Speyer, Ludwigshafen, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and the communities in the Alzey-Worms and Bad Dürkheim districts, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and the districts of Südliche Weinstraße and Trier-Saarburg are to be designated as areas with a tight housing market based on updated data. The draft regulation for the determination of areas with a lowered rent cap was reportedly discussed in the cabinet in mid-May, and currently, statements from associations and the communal council are being reviewed.
The chairman of Haus und Grund Rheinland-Pfalz, Christoph Schöll, criticized the plans of the state government most recently, stating that they would have the opposite effect for tenants and missed the core issue. "Because no new apartment will be built with these plans," Schöll said. However, politics should finally address this issue. It can be expected that private landlords, who have rarely adjusted rents in the past, will be alarmed and regularly increase rents in response to "new gimmicks."
However, the Finance Ministry stated that the rent cap is a moderate restriction that contributes to keeping rents affordable. The rent cap is used restrictively in Rhineland-Palatinate and is applied very punctually in space.
Statement Haus & Grund Rheinland-Pfalz (from 27.6.2024)
- The Haus und Grund landlords' association in Rhineland-Palatinate harshly criticized the state government's plan to expand the rent cap boundary, aiming to limit rent increases.
- The BMF in Mainz announced that more communes will be considered areas with a tight housing market, under the proposed state regulation to limit rent increase.
- The rent cap limitation allows a maximum increase of 15% within three years in defined areas with a tight housing market, according to the draft bill in Rhineland-Palatinate.
- In response to the draft regulation discussion, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, Bad Dürkheim districts, and other communities are set to be designated as areas with a tight housing market, based on updated data.
- The Finance Ministry defended the rent cap, arguing that it's a moderate restriction that helps keep rents affordable in Rhineland-Palatinate, despite the criticisms from private landlords and association leaders.
