Housing cost surge prompts Germany's social democratic party to discuss rent freeze

Posted on September 1, 2023   |  

Renters in Germany could soon get some help as the ruling Social Democratic Party is thinking about stopping rents from going up for 3 years.

The cost of renting homes has gone up a lot in Europe's biggest economy, causing problems for people who don't own their homes.

Nearly half of Germany's households rent their homes, while only about a fifth own them.

Before, rules said rents could only go up by 20% in 3 years, or 15 years in places where it's really hard to find a home.

The new idea is that in busy cities, rents can only go up by 6%, and in the rest of Germany, they can't go up at all. This is because prices are rising a lot and there aren't enough homes. This is made worse by over 1 million refugees coming from Ukraine.

More than 15% of Germans spend 40% of what they earn on rent, and 1.5 million people spend more than half of what they earn on rent, not even counting extra costs.