Thousands march against 'rental insanity' in German cities, seek expropriation
- A wave of rising rents is leading some to ponder radical solutions like expropriating housing from institutional landlords
- The extreme move could scare off investors who want to move their businesses here and create new jobs, critics say
Organisers said at least 6,000 people gathered in Berlin’s emblematic Alexanderplatz and were marching towards the working-class, predominantly immigrant district of Kreuzberg, which has been recently targeted by developers eager to make a fast buck.
“No demolition of habitable houses,” the protesters cried. Some of the marchers were disguised as what they called “real estate sharks”.
The protesters also launched a signature campaign to press for a local referendum for Berlin’s city hall to expropriate properties of real estate companies possessing more than 3,000 flats.
They singled out companies such as Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia, which have bought thousands of buildings in a capital with one of the cheapest real estate prices in Europe.
They raze existing structures to build luxury flats and rented them out at higher rates.