Berlin: Landlords Association wants space restrictions for tenants

In the fight against the housing shortage, the Association of Berlin-Brandenburg Housing Companies (BBU) proposes drastic measures: "We should think about legal options for limiting living space," said the head of the BBU, Maren Kern, of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit.

Berlin - "It's not okay that we complain about shortages and at the same time the living space per capita continues to increase in many places". The members of the association manage more than one million apartments. Switzerland could be a role model, where many housing cooperatives allow a limit.

"In a four-room apartment, for example, at least three people have to live. If a child moves out at some point, the parents are offered a smaller apartment or they have to pay an underoccupancy tax. We should see that German tenancy law also allows this possibility opened," says Kern.

Source: Der Newsticker

Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / DPA Picture