Thursday, July 10
Berlin Senate considering ban on rental of furnished apartments
Among the many problems facing the Berlin housing market right now, this is one of the most flagrant. A landlord wants to maximise their profits from a rental property and, to avoid adhering to rent control regulations – which stipulate that they may not charge more than ten percent above the average neighbourhood rate – they offer a short-term furnished apartment with an additional fee included. Since there is no requirement for landlords to specify how much is being charged for the furniture, they can artificially inflate the rent and circumvent the local market rate.
Soon, though, this may be about to change. Several districts, along with the Berlin Senate, are working to draft a ban on temporary furnished accommodation. The districts considering the measure include Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, and Pankow. If implemented, the ban would apply to an area home to around 1.2 million people. The proposal would create so-called social-protection areas (Milieuschutzgebiete) intended to prevent residents from being displaced due to rising rents.
“The topic is being extensively discussed and examined,” the Senate Building Administration told Tagesspiegel. Back in May, City Councillor for Construction Jochen Biedermann (Greens) spoke out against the practice of short-term furnished rentals, stating: “Loopholes in tenancy law are being exploited for fixed-term and furnished rentals, and exorbitant sums are being demanded.”
