The rent cap is intended to control the increase in rents in particularly desirable residential areas. But no sooner had the traffic light coalition agreed on its extension than the owners’ association Haus & Grund announced legal resistance.
The owners’ association Haus & Grund wants to go to the Federal Constitutional Court against the planned extension of the rent cap. Association President Kai Warnecke announced this in “Bild”. “The Federal Constitutional Court only accepted the first rent cap because it was limited to five years,” he said.
“With the second extension, the traffic light government is clearly violating the constitution,” argued Warnecke. “That’s why Haus & Grund Germany will bring the renewed extension of the rent cap to the Federal Constitutional Court.”
Warnecke: Price caps have exacerbated the housing shortage
The traffic light coalition had agreed to extend the rent control in tense housing markets beyond 2025 until 2029. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann announced a corresponding draft law. Where it applies, the rent cap ensures that when a new rental agreement is concluded, the rent may in principle not be more than ten percent above the local comparative rent. The respective state government decides whether the rent control applies in certain areas.
The Karlsruhe judges ruled in 2019 that the rent cap for particularly desirable residential areas was not constitutionally objectionable. The rules introduced in 2015 did not violate the guarantee of ownership, freedom of contract or the general principle of equality, the court found at the time.
However, Warnecke criticized the fact that the rent cap had massively exacerbated the housing shortage. “Since the introduction of the rent cap, the number of missing apartments has increased. There are now said to be almost 900,000.” It is becoming clear “that the rent control is primarily to the detriment of tenants who are looking for an affordable apartment.”
Tenant Protection Association demands further resolutions
The Tenants’ Protection Association welcomed the agreement to extend the regulation, but also called for the regulation to be tightened up. “The rent brake has numerous exceptions and loopholes that urgently need to be closed as part of the extension,” said Tenants’ Association President Lukas Siebenkotten. For example, landlords can avoid the rent cap with temporary contracts.
At the same time, he demanded further resolutions from the traffic light coalition. The extension of the rent control is overdue, but it is not enough, explained Siebenkotten. “We rely on the government to do all of its homework for this legislation,” he emphasized. This includes, among other things, the lowering of the cap on rent increases from 15 to 11 percent, as agreed in the coalition agreement, an improvement in protection against dismissal and the implementation of a new non-profit housing system.