High Rents - Senate administration announces rent control office
Berlin will soon receive a new testing facility that tracks rent gouging and contributes to enforcing rent caps in the city. "After the summer break, we will submit the necessary legislative proposal", said Stadtentwicklungs- und Bausenator Christian Gaebler (SPD) to the "Berliner Morgenpost". "I assume that this will be decided relatively quickly, so that we can actively start with the enforcement office for rent caps in November."
The facility is to be built up gradually. "The task will be put out to tender and awarded to a service provider who can then react flexibly – depending on how many inquiries come in", said Gaebler.
The Berlin Tenants' Association welcomes the approach
The Berlin Tenants' Association (BMV) evaluates the establishment of such a facility positively. Tenants in Berlin are frequently exceeding the rent cap in new leases, according to Business Manager Ulrike Hamann-Onnertz. "These exceedances often exceed 50 percent and fall under the provisions of Paragraph 5 of the Economic Penalty Code."
Last year, the Tenants' Association published a study in which 935 consultation cases were checked to see if the rent cap was being observed. According to this, the permissible rent was exceeded in 912 cases. Only in 35 cases were there exceptions to the rent cap.
- The Senate Administration, led by Christian Gaebler from the SPD party, aims to place the tender for constructing the new rent gouging tracking facility in Berlin soon.
- Gaebler mentioned in a statement to Berlin Morgenpost that the legislative proposal for the enforcement office for rent caps will be submitted after the summer break, with an expectation of a quick decision.
- Gaebler also suggested that the service provider selected through the tender process would have the flexibility to respond to the volume of inquiries for the new facility.
- The Berlin Tenants' Association, or BMV, has expressed its support for the establishment of such a facility, as they've noticed frequent rent cap violations in new leases, with many exceeding the limit by more than 50%.
- Last year, BMV conducted a study examining 935 consultation cases and found that the rent cap was exceeded in 912 instances, with exceptions made in only 35 cases as per the applicable regulations.
