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Berlin (dpa) - Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) has announced further steps to secure affordable rents.
"We will limit the conversion of rental apartments into condominiums more strictly," said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Such transformations are often the first step towards repression.
The federal government made up of the Union and the SPD wants to take stock of its two-year housing offensive this Tuesday.
According to the tenants' association, the rent spiral continues to turn upwards.
In addition to a rent freeze, he calls for changes in land law, more new construction, stricter rules for terminations and more funding for modernization.
The rents for simple apartments for Hartz IV recipients, for which the state bears the costs, have increased by 28 percent on a national average since 2015, according to IG Bau.
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Lambrecht responded to criticism by saying that the existing rent brake had been extended and improved.
«Overpaid rent can be reclaimed for up to 30 months.
The brake now has even more power, ”said the SPD minister, who is also responsible for consumer protection.
In addition, the observation period for the local comparative rent has been extended from four years to six years.
However, the chairman of the IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt, Robert Feiger, criticized the housing construction policy of recent years.
"The taxpayer pays the rent explosion through the cost of the accommodation," Feiger told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
"The state pays over 1.9 billion euros a year" too much "to landlords - money that it urgently needs to invest in affordable and social housing."
Specifically, the cold rents for simple apartments of Hartz IV recipients rose between 2015 and October 2020 from 5.43 euros to 6.96 euros per square meter.
In the Union faction, planned changes to the law for more building land in municipalities are viewed critically.
Group Vice Ulrich Lange (CSU) warned against encroachment on property rights.
"Conversions, building bids and rights of first refusal are instruments that are not allowed to restrict property disproportionately," said Lange of the German press agency in Berlin.
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Specifically, it is about the so-called building land mobilization law.
In tense housing markets, the federal government wants to make it more difficult to convert rental apartments into condominiums.
In addition, easing is planned to make it easier for municipalities to draw up development plans and access to properties.
Scarce building land is an important reason why there is a lack of housing and rents are rising sharply in many places.
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Federal government on the "housing offensive"