Germans up in arms over ‘rent insanity’

Michaela Franz initially thought she was spared sharp rent hikes when her new property owner scrapped plans to renovate the Berlin building she has lived in for a decade. In fact, something worse was brewing.

A few days later, she received a letter notifying her that her rental contract had been terminated and that she would have to move out by the end of May. For the 58-year-old, the landlord’s intention was clear: kick out long-time tenants and build new luxury apartments that fetch higher rents.

Not only in Berlin, but across Germany, Franz’s experience has been playing out. And the wave of gentrification and rising rents is provoking rising anger and leading some to even ponder radical solutions like expropriating housing from institutional landlords. Tens of thousands of people are poised to join marches against “rental insanity” (Mietwahnsinn) on Saturday in cities like Munich, Cologne, and Frankfurt.

The problem is most acute in the capital, where rents have doubled over the past decade, as Germany’s booming job market attracts an influx of workers, putting pressure on the housing market. Average rent prices in Berlin have pushed past 10 euros per square meter per month, according to a recent study by a real estate group CBRE Berlin and German mortgage bank Berlin Hyp AG.

As property prices in Berlin traditionally lag behind those of major European capitals like Paris and London, investors have also swooped in, betting that the real estate boom was only just starting.