Claudius Meyer, Managing Director, CR Investment Management, before the election in Berlin
“The Berlin election will be a vote on whether politicians will finally move from recognition to action on one of the city’s most pressing problems. It has been known for years that Berlin has a tight housing market, that there is a shortage of apartments and that high rents are becoming a problem for more and more people. What is missing are solutions that actually create additional living space.
The socialization of large housing stocks will create considerable legal and economic uncertainty for years to come. Market participants are already warning of the consequences for investment decisions. Such statements should give Berlin’s politicians pause for thought. After all, the capital needs private capital if it wants to modernize its housing stock and create additional living space. Market participants are already leaving the housing market and cutting jobs in Berlin. Investors are already withdrawing from the Berlin housing market and preferring other markets.
The task of the next Berlin government must therefore be to increase the supply of housing: faster planning and approval, mobilizing more building land, enabling densification and creating reliable framework conditions for private and public investors. Who ultimately owns the existing apartments is not decisive for solving the housing shortage, but how Berlin finally builds significantly more apartments again.
It is also not enough for parties to only point out why socialization will not bring success. It is necessary to show concrete ways to solve the existing problems and to implement them.
