There is another major transaction on the Berlin housing market.

The Heimstaden Group is taking over 14,000 apartments from the real estate company Akelius, as both sides announced on Sunday evening.

Heimstaden Akelius buys a further 3,600 apartments in Hamburg.

Heimstaden thus rises to become one of the larger private landlords in the capital.

So far, the company has owned a good 5,000 apartments in Berlin.

The concrete takeover of the apartments is planned for the end of this year, with the full real estate transfer tax flowing.

A purchase price was not mentioned.

The tense Berlin housing market is competitive.

It was only in mid-September that the state of Berlin announced that it would buy 14,750 apartments from Vonovia and Deutsche Wohnen for just under 2.5 billion euros.

Vonovia wants to take over Deutsche Wohnen as the largest private landlord in the capital.

A majority of Berliners voted in a referendum on Sunday in favor of expropriating companies with more than 3,000 apartments for compensation.

Heimstaden is mainly active in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

The company owns 7,300 apartments in Germany.

"We are aware of the great responsibility that this growth step entails," said Germany boss Caroline Oelmann.

She announced a “tenant-friendly” construction of new apartments on the Akelius sites.