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Chancellor Olaf Scholz: "Something went wrong in Germany for decades"
Photo: IMAGO/Esteban Osorio
Affordable living space has been becoming increasingly scarce in major German cities for years.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) intervened in the Berlin election campaign with harsh criticism of the housing policy of the Greens and the Left.
"Expropriations do not create new apartments," Scholz told the Berliner, "Tagesspiegel" on Sunday.
"I think it's irresponsible to spread the illusion that with a growing population and today's completely different living conditions, it would be possible to meet the high demand without building new apartments."
Scholz renews housing promises
Greens and leftists in Berlin have set themselves the goal of implementing the nationalization of real estate owned by large corporations, as demanded by a referendum.
They govern in the city-state in a coalition led by Scholz' party friend Franziska Giffey (SPD).
In the interview, Scholz renewed the previously unfulfilled promise of the traffic light coalition in the federal government to build 400,000 new apartments every year.
"Of course, given what's happened in the world, the current price hikes don't make things any easier," he said.
'But that doesn't mean we're giving up on our goal.
I want to be able to build 400,000 apartments in a year, and it should stay that way.« The money for more social housing is available.
Construction Minister Klara Geywitz recently explained in an interview with SPIEGEL how she wants to stop exorbitant rents and a lack of housing.
Scholz also calls for a change of heart in the construction industry.
"Construction companies should be prepared to plan more apartments that are not designed to be rented for 18 euros per square meter or sold for more than 10,000 euros per square meter, but are aimed at the majority of citizens." , said the Social Democrat.
"Something went wrong in Germany for decades."
muk/AFP
