Berlin plans Germany's first rent register — and may live to regret it

Berlin's CDU/SPD coalition has announced what would be Germany's first comprehensive rent register, covering approximately 1.7 million rental apartments. The ambition is clear: use artificial intelligence to systematically identify illegal rents and enforce tenant protection at scale. The problem is equally clear: the proposal may be unconstitutional — and if a legal challenge succeeds, it could end up raising rents rather than lowering them.

That paradox has defined the debate since the announcement in late April by CDU parliamentary group leader Dirk Stettner and his SPD counterpart Raed Saleh.