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The Berlin Mietendeckel experiment is finished. The city’s revolutionary attempt to freeze rental prices for five years, and reduce overpriced leases, has been killed off by Germany’s highest court.
The decision has unleashed a political storm. Everyone is angry - but who will voters punish? The R2G parties who tried to regulate rents? Or their opponents, the CDU and FDP who successfully derailed the project? We make the case for why each side is to blame.
There’s a big bill to pay, as hundreds of thousands of Berliners now face back-payments, higher rents and permanent shadow contracts. We’ll run the numbers on the potential local economic crisis that could follow.
What hope is there left for affordable housing? And what can the rest of the world learn from Berlin’s short-lived rental revolution? The experiment is over. Now it’s time to analyze the results
The Challengers
The CDU and FDP took the Mietendeckel law to the constitutional court, where it was struck down. They perpetuated a false narrative - "build, don't cap" - which claimed, incorrectly, that the Mietendeckel prevented new development (constructions from 2014 were specifically excluded from the law). The CDU was responsible for weakening federal rental regulations in the first place, enabling prices to skyrocket.
And then there's political donations - or as Joel calls it, legalized corruption. Almost 80% of the CDU's publicly-declared donations come from the real estate sector.
Joel interviews Berlin FDP leader Sebastian Czaja and challenges him on his false claim that the Mietendeckel prevented building, and on the FDP's donations from real estate companies. Czaja says his party takes donations from all parts of society.
The Supporters
Are the parties who created the Mietendeckel culpable of incompetence? The governing coalition of the SPD, Die Linke and Die Grünen - or R2G - took a huge political and financial gamble, and lost.
The R2G promised renters a revolution, but delivered a regression. Many tenants must now make large back payments for which they have not saved. They went against the advice of many legal experts who warned their law was unconstitutional.
We speak to two of the Mietendeckel's creators. Kilian Wegner is a law professor and SPD member who co-authored a policy paper which laid the groundwork for the Mietendeckel. He says the R2G was right in taking a chance on an uncertain law, due to out-of-control property prices.
Another lawyer, Professor Franz Mayer, wrote an expert opinion which argued Berlin had the constitutional right to create the Mietendeckel. He says there was a chance of success, and believes the court should have helped tenants by negating backpayments.
The Big Bill
How much will the Mietendeckel fiasco cost? We interview real estate researcher Christoph Trautvetter. He estimates the backpayments will cost renters between €100 to €300 million. Ongoing rent increases will cost around €500 million annually - that's half a billion euros flowing from tenants to landlords, money not going into the local economy.
Daniel Halmer from Conny.Legal, formerly Wenigermieter, says tenants may be able to reduce backpayments and shaddow rents by using the Mietpreisebremse - the existing rental regulation that limits rent increases to 10% of local prices.
Time to Sieze Property?
An even more radical concept is now gaining support - the referendum initiative known as Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen, who want to seize properties from big corporate landlords.
We speak to Wouter Bernhardt from the movement's podcast Von Menschen und Mieten. He says expropriation would be a permanent solution to rising rental prices.
The End of the Experiment?
The Mietendeckel experiment ran too short to answer many questions, and the data was disrupted by the parallel pandemic. But we did learn a few things. If you want a minor reform, demand a revolution. If you get your revolution, prepare for reprisal. Tenants globally now know rent control is no longer excluded from the political discourse.
Rent Freeze is produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Artwork by Jim Avignon. Music by Tom Evans and Ducks!
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This month residents of Berlin should experience the biggest collective rent reduction in history. About 340,000 residents - one in six - may be eligible for a rent cut under the Mietendeckel, Berlin’s radical new housing policy. But landlords are doing their best to stop it.
On November 23 landlords must reduce rents to regulation levels or face fines of €500,000. Tenants can check if they're paying too much at this website: http://www.mietendeckel.berlin.de
And they can cheating landlords to the city government here: https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/330040/Anyone who gets a rent reduction should save the money, as they might have to pay it back. The Mietendeckel is being challenged in Germany's constitutional court, with a ruling expected in mid-2021. Jöran Mandik explains the court process - and the judges' red robes.
Furnished flats are not exempt from the Mietendeckel. But some companies are offering a buy-and-lease-back service model to help landlords get around the law. Tenants are told they have no choice but to rent both the flat and the furniture together. Other tricks include renting expensive basements, parking spaces and coworking desks inside their flat.
Double contracts have become standard: residents are offered two prices - a lower one that matches the rent freeze legislation, and a higher one they'll have ot pay if the law is later ruled unconstitutional. Such double contracts are most likely legal and enforceable, says rental expert Daniel Halmer from Conny.de (formerly Wenigermiete). But they could still be challenged using the Mietpriesbremse law, an older regulation which limits rent prices under some conditions.
What's the effect of the rent freeze so far? If you already have an apartment, the rent freeze appears to be working as expected. If you’re looking for an apartment, things are tougher due to landlords restricting supply. A study by the ZIA found average rental prices have sunk by 5.7% in the first half of 2020. But availability has also fallen by about 50%, as property owners withhold empty flats from the market. For new flats built after 2014 - which are exempt from the Mietendeckel - prices are up 7.5%, and availability has increased by 18%, according to real estate portal ImmobilienScout24.
Swedish property management company Heimstaden Bostat isn't deterred by the rent freeze. The company is trying to purchase about 130 buildings with almost 4000 apartments at a cost of €830 million. Heimstaden told us they had factored the rental regulations into their financial planning.
Researcher Christoph Trautwetter recently produced a report called 'Who Owns Berlin' for the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. He debunks the myth that warned the Mietendeckel would scare investors away. "There is an excess of capital looking to invest under any condition, and ready to accept the Mietendeckel as a condition to invest in Berlin," Trautwetter said. You can read his report here: https://www.rosalux.de/publikation/id/43284
Next up on this series - who is to blame for Berlin's lack of new properties? We'll also hear from small-time landlords who face financial ruin under the rent freeze.
Rent Freeze is produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Music by Tom Evans. Artwork by Jim Avignon. Produced in partnership with RadioEins, Berlin's public broadcaster.
Support us with a donation! https://www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate/
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Every Berliner knows the new airport is about to open. But few know about the disasters that could happen next. We're here to explain. Masie, Joel and Jöran take part in a test of the new terminal and find it functional, if a bit dull.
We meet the only hero in the BER saga - Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, the airport's fourth CEO, and the one who finally finished the job. He's a bureaucratic nerd who visited the building site on weekends to check on progress. And he has a penchant for prose when talking about his airport: "In the evenings, when the sun disappears behind the horizon, or when airplanes with their landing lights are touching down at Schönefeld... I don't want to call it romantic, but there are special moments."
But just as BER was turning the corner, COVID-19 has slashed air traffic by 70% and put a huge hole in an already shaky budget. Critics say the pandemic is masking a passenger capacity crunch. Can the airport really handle all of Berlin's travellers? We'll only know after the crisis.
How will BER pay the bills? We talk to business professor Hans Georg Gemünden from the Techniches Universität, who says the airport company has used accounting tricks to hide serious financial problems, and predicts it will go bankrupt in several years.
Should BER open at all? Environmental activists from Am Boden Blieben (Stay On The Ground) will blockade the airport to protest unnecessary air travel. They propose a frequent flyer tax to discourage jetsetting.
Radio Spaetkauf urges you to support any of the many charities rescuing people from drowning in the Mediterranean. We all deserve a good and safe life, no matter where we are born. European governments are acting immorally, but some people are trying to save lives. Donate to:
Sea-Watch: http://www.sea-watch-org
Mare Liberum: https://mare-liberum.org/
Alarm Phone: https://alarmphone.org/
Sea Eye: https://sea-eye.org/
Or any other Mediterranean rescue organization.How To Fuck Up An Airport is presented by Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.
Producer: Joel Dullroy
Presenters: Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern
Music: Ducks! - https://ducksmakemusic.bandcamp.com
Artwork: Jim Avignon -
http://www.jimavignon.comSubscribe to Radio Spaetkauf on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radio-spaetkauf-berlin-podcast/id571999392
Support us with a monthly donation! https://www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate
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How To F#€k Up An Airport team presents: Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin's rental revolution.
Berlin's rent freeze has begun, but nobody seems to know what's going on. Landlords and tenants alike are confused about what to do next. Rents are now capped at the rate paid in June 2019 - all increases since then are invalid. New contracts can't exceed about €9.80 a square meter - half as much as many advertised prices. And landlords face fines of half a million euros for cheating.
On this episode we go inside Berlin's parliament to hear the moment the rent freeze law was passed. Supporters and opponents gave fiery speeches in a rowdy session, which ended with politicians voting to suspend the free market for rental property for five years.
We hear what landlords think about the new law. Some are devising ways to cheat - by renting to ignorant foreigners: "Those who screw their landlords are old Germans." Despite the threat of huge fines, some don't think the city has the resources to prosecute them.
And what should tenants do if they hope for a rent decrease? Lawyer Daniel Halmer from Wenigermieter.de says they should start adding three magic words to their rent transfers: "Zahlung unter Vorbehalt." It means paid with reservations, and gives tenants the right to to try to claim back overpayments at a later date.
Rent Freeze is produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Artwork by Jim Avignon. Music by Tom Evans and Ducks!. Recorded by Stephan Lindner. Rent Freeze is a production of Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.
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Radio Spaetkauf presents our new series - Rent Freeze. What happens when an entire city of 3.5 million residents stops paying rent increases for the next five years? Welcome to Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin’s rental revolution.
Berlin is about to introduce the Mietendeckel, a law that will freeze rents for five years, cap new rental contracts at a maximum price, and allow some tenants to claim a rent reduction. Supporters say it will be the best thing to happen to the city since the fall of the Wall
But investors and landlords are outraged. They say the reforms will scare off businesses, leave houses unbuilt and in disrepair, and feed a grey market for off-the-books rental as desperate Berliners try to find a flat.
On this episode we explain the basics of the law, and talk to Daniel Halmer of Wenigermiete.de about why the existing rent controls haven't worked.
Produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Music by Tom Evans and Ducks! Art by Jim Avignon.
Rent Freeze is a production of Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.
More at www.radiospaetkauf.com -
A special live recording of the fourth and (maybe) last episode. Take a tour of all four of Berlin’s under-construction, out-of-use, falling-apart and over-capacity airports. Each has had a part to play in the story of how Berlin f#cked up an airport.
At BER, we hear the airport company's side of the story: damn high regulations got in the way, they say. Tempelhof is closed, Tegel is operating precariously, and only socialist-built Schönefeld is muddling through. The end is in sight - October 2020. But even now Berlin is planning to double BER's floorplan and build a new government terminal.
BER critic Dieter Faulenbach da Costa tells us the building is rotten to the core and should be scrapped. "I am convinced this airport can never open. They should pray for a miracle."
We are joined on stage by Martin Delius, the former Pirate Party politician who led the Berlin parliamentary investigation into BER. Who was responsible for BER? All Berliners, he says. We ignored warning signs and re-elected incompetent politicians.
This episode was recorded live on stage at Prachtwerk Neukölln on Sunday April 29, with audio support from Craig Schüftan from Ducks!
How To F#ck Up An Airport is presented by Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.
Producer: Joel Dullroy
Presenters: Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern
Music: Ducks!
Artwork: Jim Avignon -
BER has been built twice - the first time incorrectly, the second time incompletely. We hear from Marco, an engineer who worked on site. Employees were busy stealing copper instead of fixing the fire system. Some managers got rich taking bribes. Informers had their coffee poisoned.
Joel and Jöran drive out to the unfinished BER terminal to inspect the too-short escalators that end with stairs. They were just one of 150,000 mistakes discovered in an audit after the 2012 cancellation. Cables were stuffed together in overloaded enclosures - a fire risk. The sprinkler pipes too small to carry the required water. More than 600 fire walls had to be reconstructed. And the builders forgot to install lightning rods.
Even when it's fixed, BER will need another overhaul: "As soon as they open it they have to modernize it," Marco says. "The technology is old standards. New airports are already building in a different way. This is going to be from the beginning an old airport."
But finally, heads are starting to roll... the wrong heads. The BER supervisory board fires the only people who know what's going on, creating new chaos. Then they fire the CEO Rainer Schwarz, but bungle the paperwork. Will any politician ever take responsibility?
How To F#€k Up An Airport is presented by Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.
Producer: Joel Dullroy
Presenters: Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern
Music: Ducks!
Artwork: Jim Avignon -
Days away from the planned 2012 opening party, nothing seemed wrong at BER. What was really going on? On this episode, we look at how the airport managers and politicians were messing with the plans, even as construction was underway.
They demanded a 70% increase in terminal space to add hundreds of extra shops, and requested special double story boarding gates for the supersized Airbus A380, even though no airline requested it. Instead of a working fire safety system, they planned to hire up to 800 people to act as human fire alarms.
Despite multiple warnings, the airport board pushed ahead with opening party plans right up until May 8, 2012, when the first major delay was announced. We meet the man who put a stop to it all – Stephan Loge, the administrator of the Brandenburg building department.
Also on this episode, Joel and Jöran visit the Schönefeld S-Bahn station in search of the empty train that runs nightly to the unfinished airport to keep air moving through the tunnels.
Presented by Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins
Producers: Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern
Music: Ducks!
Artwork: Jim Avignon -
BER is the international airport code for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, nickname Willy Brandt. It has also become a signifier of failure, incompetence, corruption and Berlin’s general inability to get its act together.
If you’ve flown to Berlin Schönefeld Airport in the last few years, you’ll have seen BER as your plane taxied along the runway. But despite outward appearances, BER is far from finished. It has been under construction for 11 years, blown through six opening dates, three general managers and two state leaders. Costs have ballooned from around €1 billion to at least €5.4 billion.
Across this series, you’ll learn why the escalators are too short, why the lights are always on, and why the rooms seemed to be numbered by bingo. We’ll interview insiders and disgruntled workers, chase ghost trains running to the terminal, and go inside the unfinished airport.
On this episode we’ll go way back to before any plans had been drawn, before even the Berlin wall had come down, to discover the foundational flaws that continue to haunt the unfinished airport.
Presented by Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins
Produced by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern
Music: Ducks!
Artwork: Jim Avignon
