A significant power imbalance has been revealed in the German government’s engagement with stakeholders concerning housing policy, sparking criticism from the Left party. Data obtained through a parliamentary inquiry and reported by Funke-Mediengruppe newspapers indicates that since the current coalition government took office on May 6th, representatives from the real estate sector have enjoyed substantially more access and dialogue with government ministers and officials than those representing tenants’ interests.
According to the German Federal Ministry of Justice’s response to a written question, government figures, including ministers and state secretaries, have held 47 meetings with the property industry. In stark contrast, only 12 meetings were facilitated with tenant representatives during the same period. This disparity is reflected across various ministries: the Federal Ministry of Construction registered 26 meetings with real estate representatives versus eight with tenants. Notably, the Chancellery has not hosted any tenant representatives, but has engaged with the property sector on three separate occasions.
The pattern continues at the Federal Ministry of Finance (eight meetings with the real estate sector), the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (five) and the Federal Ministry of Labor (one). The Federal Ministry for the Environment registered a single engagement with tenant advocates, while the real estate lobby was consulted twice. The only ministry where tenant representatives outnumbered their counterparts from the property industry was the Federal Ministry of Justice, where three meetings occurred with tenants and two with the real estate sector – a body currently working on potential tightening of rental laws.
Caren Lay, the Left party’s spokesperson for housing policy, condemned the findings, stating, “Four times more conversations between the government and the real estate lobby than with tenant representatives demonstrate that the Merz government has significantly more open ears for the property industry than for tenants”. Lay specifically criticized the Federal Ministry of Labor for planning significant cuts to social welfare payments impacting renters without consulting tenant representatives.
The statistics highlight concerns about the government’s prioritization of the real estate industry’s perspective, potentially at the expense of affordable housing and protections for renters and raise critical questions about the fairness and transparency of government consultations in shaping national housing policy. The revealed imbalance underscores a growing tension between the coalition’s aims and the lived experiences of those most affected by housing insecurity.