The Federal Constitutional Court did not accept the constitutional complaint in connection with the Bavarian referendum for a six-year rent freeze. The complaint by the initiators was unfounded, according to the non-appealable decision from Karlsruhe published on Wednesday. The unsuccessful referendum had wanted to use a corresponding law to limit rents in 162 Bavarian communities with a tight housing market. But the Free State argued that it lacked the relevant legislative powers: tenancy law is a matter for the federal government, but Bavarian referendums are only permissible for state laws. The Bavarian Constitutional Court also shared this view.
The Munich judges also saw no reason to submit the question of legislative competence between the federal and state governments to the Federal Constitutional Court for clarification, as desired. The commissioners of the referendum complained about this, but found no support before the Federal Constitutional Court either. The reason given was, among other things, that the constitutional complaint had no fundamental constitutional significance. The tenants’ association and the parties SPD and Die Linke were behind the referendum.