At first it was only the heavy weapons that the traffic light government disagreed about. Then came the whole of energy policy, then traffic, and now they are also arguing about construction and rent policies. Sometimes the FDP blocks, sometimes the Greens tease, sometimes the SPD hesitates. The traffic light’s cacophony initially consisted of a few crooked tones, but now the traffic light’s sound has swelled into a concert of inconsistency.
So now the rents – not a completely random dispute a few days before Berlin election. Rents in the capital have been going through the roof for years. There are far too few apartments and certainly hardly any affordable ones. Federal and state politicians, on the other hand, have many ideas, but there are still no legally secure measures.
Greens and SPD are now pulling out their tools again: extend rent control, lower caps, allow advance booking, regulate index rents. The FDP criticizes all market interventions and counters them with their proposals. The liberals want a construction booster. More, faster and cheaper must be built.
It needs new construction and regulation
But why not both? Of course, more must be built in Germany, so approval must be made easier, planning accelerated, and even green meadows must be declared building land. At the same time, massive interventions in the overheated market, especially in cities, are needed. If landlords simply pass on their inflation costs to tenants, who are also struggling with energy prices, a bottom-up redistribution takes place.
But although the situation has been precarious for months, the parties are not working on a solution. So far there have not even been negotiations between the traffic light groups. Instead, the SPD, Greens and FDP prefer to make a name for themselves a few days before the parliamentary elections on the backs of the tenants. All parliamentary groups have now drawn up idea papers and presented them to the public, but the traffic lights have not yet reached each other.
Whether the SPD, Greens and FDP are doing themselves a favor is doubtful in view of the latest polls. This is not the only reason why the traffic light parties should finally sit down at a table in order to make progress. Because after Berlin, the elections in Bremen, Bavaria and Hesse are already waiting – and tenants and home builders are also suffering there.
Felix Hackenbruch is an editor in the capital city office.
