Affordable housing advocates in Berlin launched a grassroots campaign Saturday to force the city's government into taking over nearly 250,000 apartments worth billions from corporate owners to curb rising rents in one of Germany's hottest real estate markets. The fight pits two philosophies against one another: free-market companies that see real estate as a means to profit, and housing activists who see low rents not only as a necessity but as central to the German capital's character. Despite winning 15 court cases against their landlords in recent years, Kleinert said the pressure on tenants keeps increasing. "There's a massive sell-off happening in this city," he said, adding that foreign real estate investors in particular seem to have few qualms about raising rents. "An expropriation will bring no relief to the worryingly tight housing market in the capital."

Source: ABC News April 06, 2019 07:16 UTC