Friday, January 23
It looks like Berlin’s housing crisis has reached a new low. A so-called ‘co-living’ in furnished rooms business model has drawn the attention of city district offices due to its extortionate prices, small living spaces and ability to avoid Berlin’s rent control (Mietpreisbremse).
Some of these rooms in Neukölln can be rented for 600 euros a month for a mere eight square meters. They are short-term lets with tenants unable to stay for more than one year, meaning the Mietpreisbremse does not apply. This type of housing appeals to people like foreign students who are new to Berlin and quickly need a roof over their head before they start their studies, and those who don’t know the city laws.
But it’s not all bad news. Neukölln’s district office is now banning this very lucrative type of business model, where landlords can charge between 30 and 40 euros cold rent per square meter. Due to dividing up of rooms, these apartments have been structurally changed without permission from the district office. This type of conversion has now been banned.
They are also acting against the temporary rental model itself, particularly due to these apartments being in environmental protection zones. District councilor for urban development, Jochen Biedermann (Green), stated, “This is a change in use that is not permissible in environmental protection, because the offer is no longer aimed at the traditional resident population.”
The ban means that landlords may no longer rent the rooms individually and the structural changes in the apartment must also be reconstructed. Biedermann also added that the district wants to “get this business model off the market” so that “Berliners have the chance to find affordable housing here”.
He said that other districts are also working towards a Berlin-wide ban of this business model, a plan apparently supported by the Senate.
