The most important part of The Atlantic Cities piece, Has Germany Figured Out the Way To Keep Rents Affordable? isnt whether Germany has figured out the way to keep rents affordable, its why they care about keeping rents affordable.

As described in the piece, rents in German cities have been on the rise, causing evictions for longstanding tenants. Its also created a situation where aging tenants who want to move into a smaller unit cant because its more expensive than their current rate, reducing the availability of larger apartments for the people that need them.

But when the German government recognized this problem, something unusual happenedthey stepped in and made new rules:

In Germanys three largest citiesBerlin, Hamburg and Munichlandlords will not be able to charge more than 10 percent of the average rent for comparable housing in the area. Instead of the usual 20 percent cap, rents must rise by no more than 15 percent in three years, with the rise-free first year kept in place.

Some smaller changes are also afoot. From now on, real estate agents finders fees must be paid by landlords, not tenants previously they could cost renters up to around six weeks rent. And while landlords are currently allowed to add 11 percent of any renovation costs to their tenants rental bill, now they will be allowed to add a very slightly smaller 10 percent

I dont know if this answers the question posed in the title of the piece, but the articles author, Feargus OSullivan realizes its not the rules themselves thats most critical to keeping rents affordable, its the mindset in Germany. He writes, [Theres a] tentative national consensus that housing is an essential public resource first, a speculative good second.

As Chester Hartman wrote in 2006. the need for a Right to Housing has not been accepted by the political powers, and without that, its unlikely the holes of in the current solutions for solving the problem of affordability in this country would ever be filled in.

About the author more »

Jodi Weinberger is a staff writer at the _Ridgewood News_ and a former _Shelterforce_ assistant editor.

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