Rents continue to rise – and with them the financial burden for millions of Germans. (Symbolic image) © Monika Skolimowska/dpa
Rents continue to rise – and with them the financial burden for millions of Germans. The German Tenants' Association warns of far-reaching consequences.
Berlin – According to the Federal Statistical Office, those who rent in Germany have to spend an average of more than a quarter of their income on this. The German Tenants' Association fears that tenants will soon have to pay even more money for their place to stay: The association expects rents to continue to rise significantly in the coming years and a growing number of overwhelmed households.
Siebenkotten: Rents will "rise significantly faster than wages"
Association President Lukas Siebenkotten told the Funke newspapers on Tuesday that there should be no illusions – "everything that is legal will be exploited in rent increases in the next few years". Rents would "rise significantly faster than wages," he predicted.
If the current development continues, the number of those who have to spend 40 percent or more of their money on rent will rise "drastically" in the next few years to over five million households, Siebenkotten continued. According to the Federal Statistical Office, a rent burden of more than 40 percent currently affects more than three million households, which corresponds to about 16 percent of all renters.
"The rent burden, especially for low-income households and in large cities, is dramatic," said Sebastian Dullien, scientific director of the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK) of the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation. "It is an alarm signal that the proportion of income that has to be spent on housing costs has risen even further in recent years."
Siebenkotten also expects that an average of ten euros per square metre will be reached in the near future for the gross cold rent in the portfolio. According to the latest available statistics, the average in 2022 was 8.70 euros.
German Tenants' Association warns of "social upheavals"
"Too few apartments are being built and those that are being built are not aimed at those who need them most," Siebenkotten told the Funke newspapers. He warned of "social upheavals" and accused politicians of not yet recognizing the "social explosive" of the issue.
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More subsidies are needed to keep housing affordable. In addition, private financiers would have to be persuaded to invest in social housing again. (lma/AFP)
With material from dpa