Facing a significant surge in new rental prices across Germany, Raed Saleh, Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in Berlin, is urging the federal government to create the legal framework necessary for states to implement rent controls. In an interview with the “Tagesspiegel” Saleh stated that the federal government needs to provide a loophole within existing tenancy laws to enable individual states to legislate rent caps.
This proposal follows a previous attempt by regional authorities to curb rising rents, which was ultimately deemed unconstitutional due to a lack of federal legal authority on the matter. Saleh maintains that the previous attempt was not inherently flawed, arguing that the current impediment is the procedural barrier preventing states from enacting such measures.
Highlighting the escalating pressures on the rental market, Saleh emphasized what he described as a responsibility to intervene regulatively. He directly challenged his coalition partners from the CDU, criticizing their reliance on market-based solutions. “We consistently hear from the CDU at both the federal and Berlin levels that the market can resolve everything. But this concept is detached from reality. Tenants are simply unable to cope” Saleh commented.