New furnished-housing rules struggle to draw the line

Berlin's new rules on furnished housing are intended to close long-standing loopholes that have allowed some landlords to sidestep Germany's rent controls. Few in the sector dispute the need to tackle those abuses. The more difficult question, explored during the opening panel discussion at Heuer Dialog's recent Jahreskongress Temporäres Wohnen, is whether the legislation can distinguish between landlords exploiting the rules and professionally managed temporary-living operators who were never relying on those loopholes in the first place.

The political case for intervention is straightforward. Hakan Demir, the Bundestag MP representing Berlin Neukölln and the SPD's rapporteur on tenancy law, told the panel that advertised rents in his constituency have roughly doubled over the past 10 to 15 years. He cited examples of pre-war apartments being let for close to €2,000 a month in net cold rent — in some cases around twice the level permitted under the local rent index, which he noted can constitute a criminal offence under Germany's anti-profiteering legislation. Some landlords, he suggested, may not even realise they are breaking the law.