Expropriating Deutsche Wohnen Co to combat rent explosions: A good start

dossier

The campaign to expropriate “Deutsche Wohnen” is a good start. (Because Vonovia&Co are still there…). In this context, the reaction will certainly start its usual counter-campaign that the citizen's home is in danger - and older people will perhaps remember that there was once a social democracy in the Federal Republic of Germany. In her actions, however limited, she had to defend herself against the accusation that she wanted to deprive the “German worker” of his villa in Ticino. This prospect cannot and should not prevent or even limit such a campaign. There are more than enough reasons for this - from the unimpressed continuation of rent gouging by large - and smaller - housing companies, to the city and construction policies of various state governments. A development that may have cities like Berlin or Frankfurt at the center of attention - but “evil is always and everywhere”, even in Duisburg or Niedersteppenbach. For the current developments in the resistance against the rent madness and its unbroken continuation, seethe campaign page and here:

• Study: Socialization of housing stock: design crucial for financial viability, legal certainty and feasibility
  "Socialization of large housing stock will not solve the housing shortage in Germany's major cities. This requires new construction on a large scale. Nevertheless, socialization can be useful as a supplementary element to reduce the affordability problem of rents, according to a new study using the situation in Berlin as an example. What is important, firstly, is that the already strained Berlin state budget is not burdened and secondly, that socialization is implemented in such a way that the new building does not suffer at the same time. This is the conclusion reached by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Dullien from the Institute for Macroeconomics and Economic Research (IMK) at the Hans Böckler Foundation, Dr. Patrick Kaczmarczyk and Prof. Dr. Tom Krebs from the University of Duisburg-Essen, use the example of Berlin to show that the socialization of housing can be economically and fiscally viable The researchers estimate that the compensation due for the transfer of around 210,000 apartments to private housing companies would be around 13.5 billion euros. If the socialization was cleverly designed, this could be financed without cuts in the Berlin state budget. The researchers examined three different models for the socialization of housing stock. Variant 2: The six state-owned housing companies (LWU) take over the apartments. Variant 3: The six housing companies are integrated into a public institution and take over the apartments.According to the researchers' analysis, variant 2 is best suited to minimize the legal, financial and organizational risks of corporateization as much as possible. (…)
  The apartments could be transferred to the six existing LWUs directly or via a temporary AöR. They already manage several hundred thousand apartments and have the necessary technical and organizational capacities, which of course need to be expanded. The compensation would be financed through additional LWU equity provided by the state as well as external financing from the respective housing companies. The risk that the housing companies' expenses and debts would be counted as part of the government sector would be significantly lower than with variant 1 with a permanently established central AöR. According to the researchers, this is a key advantage of the model. Another plus point is the connection to existing, experienced companies. This would also reduce the risk that new housing construction would suffer from organizational overload because the Senate administration is completely absorbed in the development of the AöR. (…)
  If the state of Berlin takes out loans to increase the equity capital of a public company, the additional debt is offset by a financial asset in the form of the investment. Such equity injections or acquisitions of investments are so-called financial transactions and are excluded from the calculation of the net borrowing permitted under the debt brake. This allows the country to provide debt-financed equity capital for public companies without having to cut corresponding expenditure elsewhere in the budget. With an equity ratio of 30 percent - which roughly corresponds to the average for the Berlin LWU - the state has to provide equity capital of around 4 billion euros, according to the analysis. The housing companies would finance the remaining approximately 9.5 billion euros through borrowed capital. Despite permanent rent controls, the public sector could achieve an annual net income of 543 million euros from the socialized apartments and would have to pay debt servicing of 345 million euros. Interest payments and repayments for all loans taken out would therefore be permanently secured. This is relevant because the majority of the commission of experts appointed by the Senate decided that socialization is only legitimate if financial viability is guaranteed.” Press release from the Hans Böckler Foundation from September 25, 2026 to the 25-pageStudy by Sebastian Dullien, Patrick Kaczmarczyk, Tom Krebs and Achim Truger in the IMK Policy Brief No. 225 from September 2026: “The transfer of large housing stocks into public ownership, options and pitfalls”
• Free pass for speculators: Coalition wants to ban the corporatization of large housing companies by federal law - nationwide outrage and protest 
  “Real estate lobby welcomes decision. Tenants' associations and the opposition see an attack on the Basic Law
  They're grinning: the real estate sharks. And they have every reason to. The “black-red” federal government wants to prevent the socialization of housing stock at the state level – through federal law. The coalition committee of the Union and the SPD had agreed on this, said a government representative in Berlin on Thursday. Bavaria's Prime Minister and CSU leader Markus Söder emphasized that the planned law would make "such state nationalizations" impossible. Axel Gedaschko expressly welcomes this “clarification under federal law”. This is an urgently needed signal for investment security and against a debate “that massively unsettles housing construction,” said the president of the central association of the housing industry GdW to jW on the same day. The President of the Federal Association of Independent Real Estate and Housing Companies (BFW), Dirk Salewski, made a similar statement. The clear commitment to “building instead of expropriating” helps private housing companies and promotes the creation of living space. Or as Kai Warnecke, President of Haus und Grund, said: “Property must not become a plaything for ideological experiments.”
  The proposed law is undoubtedly aimed at the “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co” initiative. In the 2021 Berlin referendum, 57.6 percent of those eligible to vote voted for the expropriation of large housing companies. (…) The CDU/SPD Senate is actually blocking implementation. Three and a half months ago, the House of Representatives only passed a “socialization framework law,” which is not due to come into force for another two years. The Constitutional Court checks beforehand. The law sets high hurdles. The initiative's activists presented their own draft law - and launched a second referendum. The goal is to have 220,000 apartments owned by large corporations under public ownership. This is intended to ensure affordable housing. The compensation is significantly below the market value. These “socialist expropriation fantasies” are now over, said Jan-Marco Luczak (CDU) on Thursday when asked by jW. “The Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin should now come to their senses and end their populist rent campaign,” continued the housing and construction policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group…”Article by Oliver Rast in the young world from July 3rd, 2026 and to that:
  • Socialization: a way out of the crisis
    “The coalition's attack on the initiative in Berlin made the expropriation of living space a nationwide issue. The sticking point remains enforcement.
    The federal government wants to ban housing socialization in Berlin. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) announced a nationwide law on this at the beginning of July. “Obviously the rulers see ghosts,” said Knut Unger from the Witten tenants’ association and the platform of critical real estate shareholders on Thursday at an event organized by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung. In September last year, the Berlin initiative Deutsche Wohnen & Co expropriate (DWE) presented the draft for the first nationwide socialization law.
    “Today we have a very complex and global crisis when it comes to housing,” says Unger. These include affordability and climate impact. Unger cites poverty, growing demand, a lack of regulation, a weak public sector and non-functioning markets as the causes. Financialization is also a big problem. This process began 20 to 30 years ago when an increasing number of apartments were sold to financial investors. Unlike traditional landlords, the financial investor uses the rents to trade bonds and stocks on the financial market. This happens in a globally structured, digitalized and automated manner. Overall, the financial markets are increasingly determining housing. To meet expectations of growing income, rents are rising.
    “We want to end this game through socialization,” says Unger. Tenants will still have to pay rent for costs and maintenance, but when it comes to living space, it is now about meeting needs. »This can be done democratically with a lot of co-determination. That’s the vision.”
    According to Unger, a public service provider is needed not only because of the increasing need for living space, but also in order to renovate cities in an ecological and affordable way. (…)
    Armin Rothemann, lawyer for real estate law and socialization, co-wrote the DWE expropriation law. However, he warns: This cannot simply be applied to other federal states. You have to look at the housing market and the specific administrative structures on site.
    What is fundamental is the reference to Article 15 of the Basic Law, according to which land and means of production can be transferred to common property. According to the DWE draft law, business associations with more than 3,000 apartments in Berlin are affected. However, the companies are each allowed to keep 3,000 apartments. Those that do not act for private benefit, such as cooperatives, are excluded from the process. Article 15 also stipulates compensation. According to the DWE law, this should be based on a self-defined socialization value, which corresponds to around 40 to 60 percent of the market value. The coming rental income should finance this. “This means that socialization can be achieved even in times when the coffers are empty,” says Rothemann. (…)
    “Capital is pretty alarmed by what’s happening in Berlin,” Rothemann tells “nd.” "The real estate lobby is of course demonstrably one of the largest donors to both the SPD and the CDU." According to Rothemann and many experts, the federal government's attempts to ban it before the Federal Constitutional Court will fail. In the worst case, socialization could be blocked for some time…”Article by Ruta Dreyer from August 8th, 2026 in ND online 
    • See also our current dossier:Vonovia: A problem that is getting bigger and bigger. The business model with rents
  • No commodity is like any other: land speculation plays a special role in the debate about the socialization of large housing companies
    "... According to a report by the German Farmers' Association in Brandenburg, a hectare of arable land cost around 12,000 euros in 2023. In North Rhine-Westphalia it was over 80,000 euros. Same land, similar soil, more than six times the price. When it comes to building land, the difference is even greater. In Munich a few decades ago, a square meter of building land cost only a fraction of what it costs today - the land itself has not changed at all. In 2019, the Süddeutsche Zeitung stated that building land prices in the Bavarian capital have risen by 39,390 percent (!) The question arises: How can a good that no one produces, the supply of which cannot be increased through any investment, become the object of such price explosions? And what is the value of this special commodity? Socialization of large housing companies in Berlin. (…) In view of the sometimes strident attacks on the plans for socialization (“GDR 2.0”), it is remarkable how modern even the early studies on the land issue are. The Scottish economist Adam Smith (1723–1790) differentiated between three types of income: wages, capital profit and land rent. Wages and profit arise from work or the use of capital Owner because he owns a scarce commodity, namely land (…) David Ricardo (1772–1823) developed the theory of land rent. His idea: When an economy grows, poorer soils also have to be cultivated because the good ones are no longer sufficient.The price of agricultural products is based on the cost of the worst land still in use. Those who have better soil produce cheaper, but sell at the same price - and thus make extra profit. Marx would later call this “surplus profit.” Under capitalism, it is not the workers or farmers who receive this excess profit, it is the landowner who collects it. (…) Karl Marx took up the theories of his predecessors in the third volume of “Das Kapital”. For him, land has no value in the strict sense. For him, value results from human activity – he calls it materialized work. But land is not the product of work, it is simply there. So land has no value, but of course it has a price, even with Marx. (…) For Marx, the basic rent is an expression of a power relationship, not an economic constraint. This results in a criticism that is still important today: increases in land value occur without any contribution from the owner. Anyone who owns property in a growing metropolis today benefits from a development to which they themselves have contributed nothing. (…) Parallel to the Marxist one, a separate tradition of criticism emerged in the USA. In 1879, Henry George (1839–1897) published his book “Progress and Poverty.” His observation: Despite enormous progress, poverty remained. A paradox that he attributed essentially to the private appropriation of land rent. Every advance and every infrastructure investment generally increases the land value. As already analyzed by Smith and Marx, this increase falls to the owner without any action on his part, while wages are under competitive pressure.George developed the concept of a “single tax,” a complete extraction of land rent through a land value tax. If the non-performance increase in the value of land flows to the general public, the land would lose its appeal as an object of speculation. (…)Saskia Sassen, professor of sociology at Columbia University in New York, describes in her book “Expulsions” (2014) how people around the world are systematically separated from their country - by financial capital looking for new investments. For example, investors are buying entire areas of land in Africa. European pension funds invest their reserves in investments in housing groups. For example, a Dutch pension service provider is currently the second largest shareholder in Vonovia, ahead of the large asset managers Vanguard or Blackrock. For Sassen it is the same logic: capital that can no longer find a profitable investment in production looks for land and real estate as an investment class. The land issue finally becomes very practical with Sabine Horlitz. The Berlin architect and chairwoman of the Stadtbodenstiftung came to the land issue through the housing issue. Their concept is called “Community Land Trust”. The idea behind it: land should be permanently used for charitable purposes. (…) The value of land is not an inherent property of the property. It is the result of a social decision about what a property is used for. In Berlin, “Deutsche Wohnen und Co. expropriate” asks the question: Should the land and buildings of more than 200,000 apartments primarily serve the economic purposes of listed companies and their shareholders - or should they provide permanently affordable and democratically managed living space? Part 2 and conclusion of the article by Florian Osuch in the Junge Welt from July 27, 2026 
  • Attack on socialization: Five years after the referendum “Expropriate German Housing and Co.,” the federal government wants to ban the expropriation of housing companies by law. The initiative is planning another vote
    "The federal government is planning to ban the federal states from socializing rental apartments. The CDU/CSU and SPD agreed on this in the coalition committee at the beginning of July. The initiative is directed against the Berlin initiative "Expropriate German Housing and Co.." It is based on the possibility of "transferring land, natural resources and means of production into common property," as formulated in Article 15 of the Basic Law. In 2021, the Berliners had Berliners voted for exactly this in a referendum - since then the Berlin Senate has delayed the clear vote. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) justified the planned ban on socialization by saying that the debate about it would cause international uncertainty. Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) said: "We want to build, not expropriate." Real estate lobbyists told him that they did not want to make possible investments in the capital. The initiative was triggered by the construction ministers of the Union-led states. In June, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia persuaded the construction ministers' conference to take a position against the Berlin socialization plans (...) In response to the federal government's plan, the initiative demonstrated its motto: "Hands off the Basic Law." A spokeswoman criticized the government for ignoring the will of Berliners. The move was an "interference in the interests of real estate capital." Socialization would be "the best way to combat the rent crisis."(…) The banking, construction and real estate industries are now afraid that they could lose long-standing business models. While many Berliners are suffering from the rent madness, rising rents, furnished temporary living, trading in overpriced condominiums or the construction of apartments in the high price segment are generally very lucrative business for the above-mentioned sectors of the economy. (…) The federal government's initiative is legally explosive. The trainee lawyer Timo Laven analyzes this on the Constitution Blog portal (July 6, 2026). The coalition relies on so-called competing legislation. In this area, both the federal and state governments are allowed to pass laws - but as soon as the federal government makes a regulation, federal law takes precedence over state law. Laven points out a problem: a federal law that has the sole purpose of completely excluding the state legislature on a certain subject without regulating anything itself is inadmissible according to the previous case law of the Federal Constitutional Court. (…) Specifically, companies with more than 3,000 apartments in Berlin would be affected by socialization. This would particularly affect Vonovia, by far the largest housing company in the city following the takeover of Deutsche Wohnen, but also the stock corporations Covivio (France), Adler Group (Luxembourg) and Akelius and Heimstaden (both Sweden). In total there are around 220,000 to 225,000 apartments, around 13 percent of Berlin's total stock. Nobody knows the exact number because there is no compulsory rent register across Berlin. The seven state-owned companies, cooperatives and non-profit and church organizations are excluded.(…) In addition to the fundamental question of whether socialization is possible, there is particular debate about the amount of compensation. (…) For the valuation, the draft [“Law on the Transfer of Residential Properties into Common Property”] uses existing instruments of the Valuation Act, as are otherwise used for gift and inheritance tax. The initiative calls the result “socialization value,” which should be around 40 to 60 percent of the market value. (…) Compensation should not be made via immediate transfer, but rather via so-called bonds. This is also regulated in the draft law. (…) What happens next? Whether and in what form the federal government can prevent socialization remains to be seen. If the Left Party is involved in a state government in the fall, it is unclear how it can bring in socialization. The initiative has announced that it will not wait any longer for parliamentary action. She is currently finalizing the socialization law in order to submit it again as a referendum. It is uncertain when Berliners will be able to vote on socialization a second time - this time in a legally binding manner. Legal examinations can sometimes take several years. Little has changed in terms of approval from voters in Berlin. On July 17, the Tagesspiegel reported on a survey commissioned by Vonovia. The group didn't like the results and were initially kept secret. The Tagesspiegel then “obtained the results by other means” and published them.Furthermore, 56 percent of Berliners definitely (24 percent) or tend to agree (32 percent) with the statement that apartments owned by large corporations should be socialized. Only 17 percent are somewhat or strongly against it, the rest are undecided.” Part 1 of the article by Florian Osuch in the Junge Welt from July 25, 2026 
  • [“Not just the bakery, but also the cake recipe] Socialization of apartments: Expropriations make us all richer 
    “The government wants to ban the socialization of living space - and thus strengthens mistrust in politics. Why apartments urgently need to become public property. (…) As a reminder: In 2021, over 57 percent of Berliners voted in a referendum to socialize housing companies with more than 3,000 apartments. With twisted delaying tactics, the Berlin Senate allowed the referendum to come to nothing and simply refused to implement it - in doing so, "Deutsche Wohnen & Co expropriate" refers to Article 15 of the Basic Law, according to which land can be transferred into common property for the purpose of socialization. (…)
    Is the coalition committee possibly pursuing the goal of increasing the widespread feeling of powerlessness, of alienation from democracy and thus also the susceptibility to authoritarian thinking? Then he is well on his way.
    However, reservations about the socialization of residential property are widespread.In this newspaper, for example, Ijoma Mangold complained Recently, when Berlin socializes on a large scale, "every investor will ask themselves in the future whether they still want to develop real estate in Germany." Now the “development” of high-priced real estate by private investors, to whom the coalition committee is also committed, has so far been less the solution than the problem. It is the cause of the urban housing shortage, not the means to combat it. (…)
    The power position of the Berlin housing companies is reflected in the countless eviction notices, rent increases and the deliberate neglect of rental apartments. Many tenants find themselves in legal disputes that are as hopeless as they are tiring. And that tooAdvance by the coalition committee on the de facto ban on expropriation is, at least that is what leaked documents suggest, due to vigorous efforts by the real estate lobby. This is how economic power translates into political influence. (…)
    The term “socialization” better captures the spirit of the matter, as it is not just about the redistribution of resources, but also about the democratic disposal of the goods that are fundamental to social life. Socializing home ownership is by no means the self-enrichment that Mangold fantasizes about, because no individual, not even a single group, becomes “rich.” Public life becomes richer and democracy becomes enriched. (…)
    Not just the bakery, but also the cake recipe
    However, the measure of socialization goes further than a simply understood redistribution policy. To stay with the language of the Viennese pastry shops: We don’t want just one cake, we want the whole fucking bakery. So that this 80s punk slogan is correctly understood: It's not just about making sure you have all the cakes in the entire bakery. It's about deciding on the recipe and deciding which and how many cakes are baked and in what way. (…)
    'The democratic question is therefore not just about who is allowed to decide on social issues and how this is done. It also concerns the question of what can be decided at all, i.e. whether economic questions even come into the realm of democratic decision-making. This question becomes particularly urgent when it comes to the disposal of goods of general interest, i.e. the supply of basic goods such as housing, health, mobility or education - the social infrastructure on which we all depend. (…)
    But home ownership is not a purely private matter. Although living takes place in private, it shapes the public character of neighborhoods, cities and social living conditions as a whole. Who can live where influences the social mix, educational opportunities, supply, labor market and democratic participation…" AGuest article by Rahel Jaeggi from July 12, 2026 in Zeit online 
  • “Ban” on housing socialization: Nationwide outrage in the rent movement
    “The federal government's announcement that it wants to ban housing socialization is causing outrage in the rent policy movement beyond Berlin. The formation of a nationwide resistance coalition has begun. (…)
    ' “We are working on building a nationwide alliance that is committed to expanding the demand for the socialization of the financially dominated housing industry to cover the entire federal territory,” explains Knut Unger fromTenants' Association Witten and the platform of critical real estate shareholders. Under the title“Defend Article 15 – implement housing socialization nationwide!” Initiatives and activists from different cities are currently gathering.
    The originator of the recent socialization debate, the Berlin Initiative “Expropriate German housing and co“ thinks that's a good thing: "The federal government wants to secure the returns of real estate companies with its proposal. We won't let that stop us: we continue to fight so that people in Berlin can finally live safely. The establishment of this broad alliance against the federal government's proposal shows that there is a nationwide tailwind for socialization."
    The socialization of profit-oriented housing groups is a central demand of this yearRent demo in Berlin. “On September 5th, 2026At 1 p.m. we, as a broad extra-parliamentary alliance, will take our protest before the elections in Berlin to the Red City Hall,” it announcesAlliance against rent madness and displacement in Berlin to. “We invite participation nationwide.“”   Press release from July 6, 2026 on the platform of critical real estate shareholders 
  • Ban on expropriation: The fear of red Berlin
    “Merz wants to block the socialization of real estate companies in Berlin by law. The bigwigs fear a popular left-wing housing policy. (…) Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his government colleagues announced the results of the coalition committee on Thursday and dropped a political bombshell. In addition to the compromises between labor market regulation and an increase in the "rich tax," the resolutions state: "In order not to endanger private housing construction, federal law regulates that the nationalization of private rental housing stocks through socialization laws at the state level is no longer possible." Berlin became the strongest force in a survey for the first time. The aim is to deprive a potential left-wing government of the tools it could use to help thousands upon thousands of people find affordable rent. It would be the most serious anti-left law in Germany since the Cold War.
    In his speech, Merz said that we simply have to “develop a passion for the future of our country.” What if at the same time he attacks the hope of ordinary people in Berlin for a better future, who voted with more than 59 percent in 2021 for the socialization of large real estate companies?…”Article by Patrick Lempges from July 2nd, 2026 in ND online 
  • Coalition wants socialization ban: frontal attack in the service of real estate capital
    “The federal government wants to ban the socialization of apartments at the state level. The project is an attack on tenants – and outrageous nonsense…”Comment by Timm Kühn from July 2nd, 2026 in the taz online 
  • Life sounds reported on July 3rd. aud mastodon: “It's great that within a few hours around 500 people spontaneously protested against the anti-nationalization plans in front of the SPD headquarters!“
  • The unions are discovering the ownership issue: The housing crisis in Berlin is driving the “Deutsche Wohnen & Co Expropriate” initiative to new, heavyweight alliance partners.
    “After the individual unions GEW, Verdi and IG Metall, the German Federation of Trade Unions Berlin-Brandenburg (DGB) is now also putting pressure on: The referendum on the socialization of living space should be implemented. However, the umbrella organization of all individual unions does not stop at appeals to the Senate.
    87 percent of the delegates voted at the 9th district assembly to actively support the legislative referendum that the campaign is currently preparing - including collecting signatures, media work and rooms for the campaign. Because “as trade unionists, we know that a public housing system that is not committed to profits but to the needs of people can be a central instrument against the overheating of the rental market.” The fact that the Berlin unions are taking on a nationwide pilot role here became clear at the beginning of the week when the DGB asked at a well-attended event in the Hans-Böckler-Haus: "Is the expropriation of large housing companies the solution for affordable housing in Berlin?"…”Article by Günter Piening from July 1st, 2026 in ND online 
• There is a shortage of 1.4 million apartments: Why is expropriation for highways - but not for the housing shortage?
  • Why is there expropriation for highways – but not for housing shortages?
    "177 expropriation proceedings for road projects are currently active in Germany, especially in Saxony. The Left calls for the instrument to be used against large real estate companies instead. In Germany, a total of 177 expropriation proceedings for road construction purposes were carried out in 2025. A total of 60 expropriations were completed in 2024 and 2025, as can be seen from a response from the Federal Government to a written question from Left MP Caren Lay, which the “Frankfurter Rundschau” (Thursday edition) was available.(…)
    The Left criticizes the federal government's prioritization
    Lay, spokeswoman for the Left parliamentary group for rent and housing policy, criticized the fact that expropriations are not also used by real estate companies due to the lack of living space. “While highway construction is not part of a sustainable and future-oriented policy, the socialization of large housing companies would be a contribution to greater public welfare and climate protection,” she told the “Frankfurter Rundschau”. “Since the Union is expropriating on a massive scale, it should finally give up its blockade against the democratic will to socialize Vonovia and Co..” There is a shortage of 1.4 million apartments…”Report from February 5th, 2026 on web.de , see also the reference:
  • Massive expropriations in Germany – in the wrong place? “CDU is the expropriation party”
    Article by Moritz Maier from February 5th, 2026 in the FR online 
• Deutsche Wohnen & Co is drafting a “socialization law”: “We only target the corporations that gamble on the real estate market”
  • Our law
    “The first version of our socialization law is here - four years after Berliners voted for socialization on September 26th, 2021. The implementation of the won referendum has been blocked since 2021. In 2023, we therefore decided to take socialization into our own hands and write our own socialization law. While the Senate continues to block, we are keeping our promise. Our draft law envisages socializing the housing portfolios of profit-oriented real estate groups with more than 3,000 apartments in Berlin. Around 220,000 apartments can be transferred to public ownership. In this way, we thwart the greed of large corporations and ensure long-term affordable housing in Berlin…”Deutsche Wohnen & Co on the draft law 
  • Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co: “We only target the corporations that gamble on the real estate market”
    “A Berlin initiative wants to socialize 220,000 apartments. Lawyer Armin Rothemann explains how this should work - and how tenants would benefit from it…”Interview by Lukas Hermsmeier from September 26, 2025 in Zeit online 
  • Rent activists in Berlin: “We want to collect signatures again”
    “A well-known initiative has written a “sociation law”. Berliners should vote on this in a referendum…”Interview by Christian Lelek from September 26th, 2025 in ND online 
• [Socialization Framework Act] Means against the housing crisis in Berlin: Yeah, socialization! The best thing: You don't have to abolish capitalism to do this 
  “… “The Socialization Framework Act (VergRG) creates the legal framework for the socialization of land, natural resources and means of production as well as their transfer into common property or other forms of public economy in the state of Berlin.” – “The aim of socialization is to directly cover a public need for general services without the intention of making a profit.” – from Art 1 and 2, draft of the VergRG of the Berlin Senate coalition of CDU and SPD. In the future, basic services for all citizens in Berlin will be organized and operated directly by the city's public companies as part of public services. This includes housing, the supply of energy, water and heat, the disposal of wastewater and waste, as well as public transport, postal services, telecommunications and all digital communication services, as well as care and healthcare. This bill is based on solid constitutional law, Article 15 of the Basic Law on Socialization. (…) It is no coincidence that the Berlin Social Democrats are returning to their roots. They were urged to do so by the referendum of September 26, 2021, which voted for the socialization of apartment owners who have more than 3,000 apartments. 59.1 percent of Berliners who voted voted for socialization. In order to fend off citizens' requests, the CDU and SPD set up a legal commission of experts to prove that such socialization was incompatible with the Basic Law. Puppy cake. The commission unanimously determined that the socialization of large housing stocks would comply with Art.15 GG is compatible if the Berlin legislature pursues clear community goals by law. (…) Housing in Berlin has become the business model of profit-hungry investors from all over the world, in which even the city's housing associations are participating. GEWOBAG, the largest of them, offers apartments in new buildings at prices starting at 16.50 euros per square meter, and its board members have salaries of over 203,000 euros. They don't give any answers as to where the missing 40,000 affordable apartments will come from. The SPD draft law could meanwhile contain an answer. All municipal housing associations could be brought together in a state-run company, their housing stock could be supplemented by the socialized large stocks of apartments, an upper rent limit for all rental apartments could be set by law and systematic new construction of apartments could be initiated that could only cost between 6 and 8 euros per square meter for tenants. (…) The draft law has – unintentionally – made new perspectives on the organization of social coexistence visible. By expanding the community economy, red-red-green could again become a socio-political, future-oriented option as an alternative to black-green or CDU/AfD. A coalition that would go beyond social policy based solely on distributive justice and build social security in stable structures of general interest services. However, it is doubtful whether the Berlin SPD has even seen this strategic dimension of its draft law and whether it takes it seriously as a programmatic statement. But at least the draft law shows what could be possible in terms of community economy.You don’t even have to abolish capitalism.” Column by Udo Knapp from August 11, 2025 in the taz online 
• Vonovia takes over Deutsche Wohnen and Signa founder Réne Benko arrested: Are the socialization law and expropriation of real estate companies still to come?
  • Vonovia takes over Deutsche Wohnen: dominance against tenants
    “After the takeover of Deutsche Wohnen, tenants fear an even more aggressive corporate strategy. Meanwhile, expropriation continues to be slowed down.
    The final takeover of Deutsche Wohnen by Vonovia has been sealed. At general meetings on Thursday and Friday in Berlin and Bochum, shareholders voted with an overwhelming majority to accept a “profit transfer and control agreement”. This makes Deutsche Wohnen completely subject to the instructions of the Vonovia board. With around half a million apartments, Vonovia is the largest private housing group in the country and the largest private landlord in Berlin. (…) With more than 130,000 apartments in Berlin, Vonovia is the first candidate for socialization, as envisaged by the successful referendum in 2021. But the procrastination of implementation by the black-red Senate continues. The latter simply set out to develop a framework law on socialization…”Article by Erik Peter from January 26th, 2025 in the taz online 
    • See also our dossier:Vonovia: A problem that is getting bigger and bigger. The business model with rents
  • Referendum: Is the socialization law still coming?
    “In 2021, a majority of Berliners voted for the referendum “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.” - after that nothing happened for a long time. The Senate now wants to commission a report on the implementation of the socialization framework law. We talk to Berlin's SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh about the future of the project…”Video of Dorit Knieling's contribution from January 25th, 2025 in rbb24 Abendschau 
  • Following the arrest of Signa founder Réne Benko, the initiative “Expropriate German Housing and Co.” is calling for the socialization of Signa apartments and the expropriation of real estate companies
    "In view of the arrest of real estate mogul René Benko today in Innsbruck, the Deutsche Wohnen and Co. expropriate initiative underlines the need to socialize all apartments from Benko's Signa group. "We must not give our apartments to criminals. The Signa real estate group has committed fraud and insolvency crimes on a large scale - Berlin tenants are also suffering from this. This shows: Living space must not be a commodity, otherwise profit-oriented real estate groups will do their mischief with the tenants," explains Carmel Fuhg, spokeswoman for the Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen and Co. initiative. “We are currently working hard on our socialization law by means of a referendum. We will expropriate real estate companies such as Signa, Vonovia/Deutsche Wohnen and Adler and thus end the rent crisis in Berlin,” says Fuhg...” Report in the young world from January 24, 2025 (“Initiative calls for socialization of Signa apartments after Benko’s arrest”)
    • See our dossier for background information:Karstadt reaches for Kaufhof/Galeria. Real estate in sight
• The “Expropriate German Housing & Co” initiative is launching a #legislative referendum and is taking care of socialization itself – please support!
  "... Two years after 59.1% of Berliners decided to socialize living space, the initiative is convinced that the legislative referendum is the best instrument for enforcing the democratic vote. With this step, the initiative wants to put an end to the ongoing political blockade of the Berlin Senate. "While we tenants sink ever deeper into the housing crisis and the real estate companies make profits from our plight, the Senate leaves no doubt that it supports the socialization of living space We will no longer stand idly by: As a Berlin city society, we are now writing the socialization law ourselves, which the Senate has owed us for two years. With the legislative referendum, we Berliners can finally implement the decision we made two years ago. We are more convinced than ever that socialization is the best way to make rents affordable in the long term and to manage housing democratically. In June, the commission of experts specially appointed by the Berlin Senate confirmed beyond doubt in its final report the legal feasibility and sustainable financing of the expropriation of large profit-oriented real estate groups. However, the CDU-led Senate recently unequivocally rejected implementation. In order to finance the development of the socialization law, the initiative is launching a crowdfunding campaign today.Achim Lindemann, spokesman for the initiative, explains: "In the coming months, we will work with expert lawyers and experts from civil society and science to develop a legally secure and reliable socialization law. For this we need financial support. Posters and information material for our new project also have to be paid for. Every euro helps to counteract the unscrupulous machinations of the real estate companies." (…) The initiative announces that it will present the completed corporate law over the next year and officially initiate the legislative referendum. This then has to go through the usual steps in the democratic process until the vote.” Press release from the Deutsche Wohnen & Co expropriate initiative from September 26, 2023 withLink to crowdfunding campaign
• Deutsche Wohnen and Co have reason to celebrate: expropriation of large housing companies? There is no milder remedy!
  • “Historic day for Berlin”: Expert commission presents final report: “Framework law is completely unnecessary”
    “The final report of the expert commission, which was set up after winning the referendum on the expropriation of large housing companies, undoubtedly confirms the legal feasibility of socialization. After the report had already become public, the commission presented it today at a press conference in the Red City Hall. From 1 p.m., the Deutsche Wohnen & Co expropriate initiative is celebrating with a rally on site: "Today is a historic day for Berlin. The Commission is making it clear once and for all: the expropriation of real estate companies is legally secure, financeable and the best way to stop the rent madness! In addition, low compensation that will cost the state of Berlin nothing is also feasible. Expropriation is simply the best deal for Berlin," says Constanze Kehler, spokeswoman for the Expropriate the Deutsche Wohnen & Co initiative. (…) "The commission has confirmed the socialization as legally secure and has written down the legal framework for it in the final report. A framework law is therefore completely unnecessary. We ask you, Mr. Wegner: Do you respect the work of the experts and the final report of the commission, which was appointed by the Senate itself? Then your government must now write a socialization law that specifically states when and how the real estate companies will be expropriated," said Kehler. (…)According to the final report, the experts also consider the financial viability to be a given. The commission has examined and validated the “fair rent model” proposed by the Deutsche Wohnen & Co expropriate initiative in detail: the majority of the commission members are of the opinion that “the income from future non-profit management could be used as a basis” when calculating the amount of compensation. Accordingly, the large housing companies would only receive as much compensation as can be refinanced through moderate rental income from the socialized apartments. The experts agree that the real estate groups can be compensated below market rates…”Press release from June 28, 2023 from Deutsche Wohnen and Co. expropriate – who are holding a rally in front of the Red Town Hall from 1 p.m. to celebrate the day – we congratulate!
  • Expropriation of large housing companies: There is no milder remedy
    “Socialization of living space is not only possible, but also necessary if you want to guarantee affordable rents for those on lower incomes.
    The opponents of the socialization of the large private real estate groups, especially from the SPD and CDU, have not put forward all the arguments against the implementation of the Berlin referendum “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co”: Socialization would violate the Basic Law and would financially ruin Berlin. The expropriation limit, according to which only companies with more than 3,000 apartments in the city should be affected, is not tenable; actors oriented towards the common good such as cooperatives would also be affected. Or, more fundamentally: Only new construction can relieve the strain on the city's tense housing market. The expert commission set up a year ago by the previous red-red-green Senate has now swept all of these bogus arguments off the table. In their final report, which is to be handed over to the CDU/SPD Senate on Wednesday, the experts state with impressive clarity: The Basic Law, i.e. Socialization Article 15, applies - also in Berlin. With a simple socialization law, Berlin can regulate the transfer of the holdings of more than a dozen private companies - a total of around 240,000 apartments - into public ownership, of course in return for compensation.However, this would not ruin the city because the current market price would not have to be paid. The measure would be significantly cheaper for the city than the current purchasing policy. The Commission even says: There is no milder means if you want to guarantee permanently affordable rents for lower-income groups. Even more new construction is not an alternative to achieving a permanent supply of affordable housing. The Senate is thus exposed in its ultimately purely ideological rejection of socialization - and is left naked…”Comment by Erik Peter from June 27, 2023 in the taz online 
• Socialization lowers the rent. Short study on the social effects of a possible socialization of apartments in Berlin 
  "The demand to socialize the apartments of large private landlords has fired the imagination of an entire city. This enthusiasm was not least sparked by the prospect of pushing financial market-oriented speculators out of the city. Even more important, however, was the associated hope of finally being able to afford an apartment or a move in Berlin again, because socialization ensures lower rents in the city. But can socialization keep this promise? Opponents of socialization contradict this vehemently: the rents are with corporations Like Deutsche Wohnen or Vonovia, lowering them further would prevent investments in existing or new apartments. This attitude is also widespread in politics. This is not the only case in which construction senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) repeatedly questions the “sensibility” of socialization 200,000 households in the city's six largest private housing companies could see their rents fall by an average of 16 percent if the apartments were managed according to the model of the state-owned housing companies - with better maintenance and more affordable housing offers for people with low incomes. In addition, socialization would regain apartments, especially in those districts that are particularly affected by or threatened by gentrification. This is exactly what could not be achieved in any other way, for example through new construction.After the “Commission of Experts” appointed by the Berlin Senate recently presented an interim report on its deliberations, the discussion about the implementation of the referendum “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.” is entering the home stretch. More than a million Berliners voted for it. The commission has declared socialization to be possible in principle, apart from a few legal details. Now it's politics' turn. In a debate that is often ideological and highly emotional, the present study shows, rich in facts and convincingly: Socialization may not be able to solve all of the city's housing policy problems, but it can significantly improve social housing provision - far more than other means can." Information from the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation toStudy by Andrej Holm and Matthias Bernt from January 2023 
  • See also the RLS from December 2022:Building communally, living affordable 
• Expropriation of real estate companies: Expert commission angers CDU - when expropriations are an upset for bourgeois parties - and when not... 
  “In a “market-compliant democracy,” as Western capitalism is often called, expropriations are not taboo – at least not when residential buildings or small farms are expropriated for the benefit of the activities of large corporations. The energy company RWE repeatedly asserted its interests through expropriation proceedings, citing the public good, which is stated as a condition in Article 14 of the Basic Law. When the farmer Eckhardt Heukamp from Lützerath did not want to leave his farm in order to enable further brown coal mining there, RWE applied for the assignment of land and thus the expropriation of his properties to the district government, which approved the application. From the perspective of environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, the foreseeable consequences of further global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels also play a role for the general welfare - but in this case, established bourgeois parties such as the CDU, SPD and now also the Greens have fewer concerns. If an expropriation initiative is directed against corporate interests - like the “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen and Co.” initiative in Berlin - things get complicated. The Berlin expert commission for the implementation of the identical referendum caused discontent in the capital's CDU with its assessment that this was fundamentally feasible. (…) On Thursday evening, the Berliner Morgenpost reported online about the commission's interim report, which is to be published next week. Accordingly, the committee confirms that the state of Berlin has the necessary legislative competence to pass a socialization law.There is also the possibility of compensating the corporations below the market value of the housing stock. (…) The Berlin CDU is now indignantly calling for a “line to be drawn” under the expropriation debate. Dirk Stettner, spokesman for construction and housing for the Berlin CDU parliamentary group, explained on Friday, according to the Berliner Morgenpost, that the capital’s housing problem “cannot be solved with expropriations, but with tenant protection and new construction”. The costs that would arise from corporatizing large housing companies are “unfeasible in times of energy crisis and inflation”. (…) However, the expropriation initiative was able to get the Senate parties to be involved in the selection of the 13 experts who now sit on the commission. They are mostly people with professorships and chairs in law - the chair of the committee is the former Federal Minister of Justice Herta Däubler-Gmelin (SPD).” Post by Claudia Wangerin from December 9, 2022 on Telepolis , see background:
  • Finance Senator believes budget-neutral compensation is possible. The income value method should serve as the basis for calculation
    “Finance Senator Daniel Wesener (Greens) confirms that financial transactions are possible in a “budget-neutral and debt brake-compliant manner”. The reason for the statement was a panel discussion by the Deutsche Wohnen und Co. expropriate initiative on the compensation that housing companies should receive in the course of an expropriation. Wesener also spoke out in favor of the income value method as the basis for calculating the amount of compensation so that socialization could be carried out in a budget-neutral manner and explained that the Senate's cost estimate was not “up to date”. In essence, Wesener said that there were “means and opportunities to carry out financial transactions in a budget-neutral, debt brake-compliant manner, which would result in an increase in value for the state of Berlin and which would be worthwhile.” Although he did not comment specifically on the amount of compensation in this case, “it became clear from the discussion that the Finance Senator believes that budget-neutral compensation for corporations is possible, which we very much welcome,” explains Ralf Hoffrogge, spokesman for the initiative. The initiative also welcomes the senator's statement that the Senate's cost estimate from 2019, in which the market value of the apartments served as the basis for calculation, is "no longer completely up to date". The senator explained that the so-called “income value method is the best approximation” to the compensation value because he “doesn’t want any budget financing” and Berlin tenants shouldn’t end up “paying the bill.” In the income value method, the expected rental income serves as the basis for the compensation amount. In this way it can be ensured that corporations’ speculation is not remunerated…” Report from the “Expropriate German Housing” initiative from December 8, 2022 
• Referendum to expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co.: The path to socialization 
  "... The last attempt to socialize an economic sector in Germany dates back forty years ago: at the beginning of the 1980s, striking steel workers, supported by IG Metall and the Greens, demanded that the ailing West German steel industry be transferred to public ownership. But soon afterwards, the common economy and socialization no longer played a role for the unions. The transformation of the GDR industry in 1989 did not lead to the democratization of social ownership, but directly into market radicalism.Now, a generation later, socialization is back - but not in heavy industry, but as urban land reform. Not large unions, but small urban political initiatives such as the Kotti & Co tenants' association called for the real estate giant Deutsche Wohnen SE to be incorporated for the first time in Berlin in 2016. (…) Numerous scientific opinions have already confirmed that there is a legal path to socialization. After the initiative presented concrete concepts for the first time in autumn 2018, a legal debate took place over the course of 2019 in the form of reports, statements and specialist articles. Despite opposing votes, the overall opinion prevailed that socialization of the housing stock of private real estate groups is covered by Article 15 of the Basic Law and lies within the legislative competence of the State of Berlin. (…) However, the fundamental legality of socialization does not mean that there are no longer any open questions. One of these is undoubtedly the design of the AöR, which has so far only been roughly outlined by the initiative. This is because the public debate has focused on the deprivation of private property rather than the creation of common property. The focus was on the question of compensation. (…) The initiative was only able to react after the full cost estimate became public, quite late, in 2019. She completely recalculated the cost estimate and also applied the deductions for increases in land value to the buildings themselves, which reduced the amount of compensation to 18 billion while maintaining the loan conditions and all other Senate assumptions.A report later confirmed that this size could be financed without rent increases or state subsidies. Compensation below market value and financing from rental income open up the possibility of a budget-neutral implementation of the referendum. To put it bluntly, socialization costs nothing. In the long term, the city of Berlin will become richer because the apartments will remain as common property for future generations once the compensation has long since been paid off. The conclusion of the debate that has been going on since 2018 is that socialization is legal, financeable and wanted by a broad majority of the population. So it’s time for the Senate and House of Representatives to finally start implementing it.”From the abridged version ofIntroduction by Ralf Hoffrogge to the new Germany online on September 3, 2022 as a preprint from the publication of the Deutsche Wohnen & Co initiative “How socialization succeeds – the status of the debate”, Parthas Verlag 2022, 20 euros, 296 pages
• Good expropriation, bad expropriation 
  "... Expropriations are pure Stalinism - that's pretty much how bourgeois parties and journalists see it when it comes to the socialization of real estate companies in order to ensure affordable housing for normal and low-income earners in big cities. Expropriations serve the common good - that's how bourgeois parties see it when it comes to pushing through road construction projects in order to further promote motorized private transport despite all the known harmful side effects. 149 such expropriation proceedings have been carried out in Germany alone since Initiated in 2020 - this emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Transport to a request from MP Caren Lay (Die Linke), which was first reported by the daily newspaper Neues Deutschland. As the spokesperson for her parliamentary group for rent, construction and housing policy, Lay was interested in the number of proceedings in this area because the result of the Berlin referendum by Deutsche Wohnen & Co. was repeatedly scandalized - including by CDU politicians (...) “Expropriations for highways and road construction are the order of the day, especially in CDU-governed countries,” Lay now made clear. “The Union is the expropriation party!” The number of such procedures is particularly high in Saxony. Since 2020, 34 expropriations have been initiated here in accordance with Section 19 of the Federal Highway Act. Paragraph 1 states: “The bearers of the road construction burden on federal highways have the right of expropriation in order to fulfill their tasks.” The Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co. initiative is now relying on Article 15 of the Basic Law.Accordingly, “land, natural resources and means of production (…) can be transferred to common property or other forms of public economy for the purpose of socialization through a law that regulates the type and extent of compensation.” The demand to socialize real estate companies with more than 3,000 apartments found a clear majority in the referendum on September 26th in Berlin. However, Berlin's governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) had opposed rapid implementation - a commission of experts should now clarify the details. (…) “While road construction is not part of a sustainable and future-oriented policy, the socialization of large housing companies would be a contribution to greater common good in the interest of everyone,” explained Lay on Sunday.” Contribution by Claudia Wangerin from August 16, 2022 in Telepolis 
• We have to talk. Expropriation conference on May 27, 2022 in Berlin 
  “It's time we talk to each other. On the Ascension weekend, a supra-regional conference on the topics of expropriation and socialization of real estate companies will take place in Berlin. In cooperation with the Asta of the TU Berlin and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, the initiative “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co” wants to use this conference to promote alternatives to the profit-driven housing madness. The following topics and questions will be: