International To Fight Rising Rents, Berlin Considers Expropriating All Landlords With More Than 3000 Apt. Units

Yeah, Barcelona has had a problem with people not being able to afford to live there because some property owners have used AirBnB for their units thus kicking out residents.

And a lot of other cities too. I’m definitely open to restrictions on Airbnb where housing is at crisis levels
 
Just a point: the vote is consultative. If the Berlin Senate decides it is not feasible, they can decide not to act on it.
 
Yeah, Barcelona has had a problem with people not being able to afford to live there because some property owners have used AirBnB for their units thus kicking out residents.

Its a major issue here too.
 
Import thousands of migrants

Increased demand. Rent goes up.

Fuck you landlords. It's all your fault.
 
Its a major issue here too.

And here. One estimate said 15% of all the long term housing stock in my town was used solely for air bnb type renting. Changes are likely coming but as always lag behind the problem and wouldn't be as foolish as taking privately held property.
 
And here. One estimate said 15% of all the long term housing stock in my town was used solely for air bnb type renting. Changes are likely coming but as always lag behind the problem and wouldn't be as foolish as taking privately held property.

Its obnoxious. I hate that shit is in historic neighborhoods too. Like Treme is the birthplace of jazz, it has a distinct identiy different than any other neighborhood in the country and communities are being ruined because of it.

I work at the French Quarter Welcome Center and low key lecture people who are staying in AirBNB.
 
Not all that different to people who own hundreds or thousands of grocery stores

Walmart. Meijer. Kroger. Aldi

Renting is a business and they're business owners is all.

But it actually is different.

There is a difference between how an individual manages his personal balance sheet versus how a broad society does. It's actually a big mistake to conflate the two, because an individual can materially curtail or increase his consumption much more than if everyone in society did the same in the same direction (as it would either lead to hyper-inflation, or a pronounced recession).

Investment in business is different than investment in residential property. There are notable economists citing that the lack of "real investment" (i.e. into businesses, technology) and instead in residential real estate thus driving up rents for Ordinary Joe is very unhealthy. We're in an unprecedented global situation of investors sitting on a huge stockpile of money but investing in residential real estate, and borrowers sitting on massive amounts of debt straddled with unaffordable rent.
 
Its obnoxious. I hate that shit is in historic neighborhoods too. Like Treme is the birthplace of jazz, it has a distinct identiy different than any other neighborhood in the country and communities are being ruined because of it.

I work at the French Quarter Welcome Center and low key lecture people who are staying in AirBNB.

It's a problem but not as bad here as it is a very tourist driven town and there is even a hotel shortage too so air bnb is somewhat nessicary. Still an issue for those looking to live long term though
 
Import thousands of migrants

Increased demand. Rent goes up.

Fuck you landlords. It's all your fault.
lol wait, so are these immigrants poor no good evil swine who contribute nothing to the economy, or are they gentifying neighborhoods and causing inflation because of their economic participation?
Bahahaha you damn hate-trolls will cry about any topic and contradict yourself if it means getting a chance to blame immigrants for a second.
 
lol wait, so are these immigrants poor no good evil swine who contribute nothing to the economy, or are they gentifying neighborhoods and causing inflation because of their economic participation?
Bahahaha you damn hate-trolls will cry about any topic and contradict yourself if it means getting a chance to blame immigrants for a second.

I've always stated that mass immigration causes housing shortages. Don't attribute other arguments to me thanks.
 
Berlin is a very dynamic city. Lots of start-ups, rich cultural scene, high share of immigrants, stuff like this, lots of crime by German standards, lots of hipsters, gentrification, and so on. Housing prices and rents have gone up with a CAGR of about 8% over the past 10 years. This attracts speculation and companies who buy, modernize / luxurize, and drive out the original population.

Therefore it is hardly surprising that there is some kind of backlash. IMO it is a bad (no)solution to a real problem.
I would think that some kind of rent control legislation would make more sense but maybe they're smarter than us. Rent control in the U.S. did not result in better living conditions, for economic reasons, so I can't see it working any better in Berlin because the economics of being a landlord don't really change anywhere in the world.

It's crazy the one landlord can own 110,000 units. It really puts the city in a tough place.
 
pardon my ignorance but what is “expropriating” mean in this case?
 
I'm guessing they have a whole bunch of laws restricting the supply of housing, and regulations that burden landlords. This probably restricted the supply of housing and caused consolidation of ownership because only a small number of owners were able to adapt. And so now they want even more government intervention and even fewer people controlling property.
 
How about just taxing people who hold properties without any tenants living on them a certain amount? Why explicitly break private property rights?
 
I would think that some kind of rent control legislation would make more sense but maybe they're smarter than us. Rent control in the U.S. did not result in better living conditions, for economic reasons, so I can't see it working any better in Berlin because the economics of being a landlord don't really change anywhere in the world.

It's crazy the one landlord can own 110,000 units. It really puts the city in a tough place.

Rent control legislation has been introduced Germany wide in 2015, but there are ways around it, e.g. by renovating. Also, there are no effective sanctions.
 
How about just taxing people who hold properties without any tenants living on them a certain amount? Why explicitly break private property rights?

The situation in Berlin is special in terms of pace of change. In absolute terms, Berlin is far from the most expensive German city.

Also, lots of radical leftists in Berlin who have pushed this proposal. It is not law after all.
 
Government taxes the fuck out of landlords. Take that money and use it to build affordable housing.

It isn't the landlords' fault the government doesn't treat access to housing as a human right like they should.

There should be one house/apartment for every family, and if there isn't, no immigration until their is.

These companies get rich off of abusing supply and demand economics. Increase the supply.
 
I've always stated that mass immigration causes housing shortages. Don't attribute other arguments to me thanks.

It is a demographic problem. Most of them are single adult males who don't hold a job and are in the welfare system. They are eligable for housing but the Government only pays within a certain range for apartments. I would assume that alot of small units who do get renovated getting to expensive and leave that price range.
https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtsch...as-tafelsilber-verkauft-wurde/13019974-2.html
Berlin sold 200000 units cause they wanted to cash in, now they are in demand and bitching.
 
Gotta make room for all the Muslims moving in.

Good luck teaching them to use the toilets in such nice apartments and houses. They'll end up shitting on the kitchen sinks.
 
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