The parties are happy to promise help for the Bundestag election - also for tenants in the cities.
But not everything that can be found in the housing programs will redeem this and counteract real estate bottlenecks in metropolitan areas.
SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz rightly believes that more building works best against high rents in the long term, but in the meantime does not want rents to rise higher than inflation where necessary.
The Union and FDP are against caps, while the Greens and Left Party want upper limits on rents.
Instead of such interventions, what should be more welcome is what creates more living space in the sought-after neighborhoods, accelerates processes and saves costs along the way.
Olaf Scholz could know better
How this works can be seen more in Hamburg than in Berlin.
The Hanseatic city relies on an alliance with the housing industry for ten thousand new apartments a year, while the capital is working on the symptoms of a lack of living space with caps and brakes.
As the former First Mayor of Hamburg, Scholz should know enough to decide against the Berlin route.
Because in the capital one can see where such a housing policy and also a red-red-green government are heading.