Berlin’s government has moved to freeze rent prices in the booming German capital for five years from 2020 in their latest bid to halt runaway gentrification.

Once described as “poor, but sexy,” Berlin has seen its housing costs double over the last decade as employees lured by the strong job market move into the city.

The sharp rent hikes have led some residents to ponder radical solutions, including pushing for the seizure of housing stock from powerful landlords.

Alarmed by the trend, Berlin’s city government agreed last Tuesday on the outlines of a draft law that would include a temporary freeze on rent prices for five years from 2020, with a bill to be drafted.

For decades after German unification in 1990, the capital was a magnet for artists, musicians and students drawn by housing far cheaper than in other major European cities — partly the legacy of its decades marooned inside East Germany as a mere satellite of the West’s economy.

But around 40,000 people a year have moved to Berlin in the last decade, and rent prices have more than doubled since 2008, according to a study by the online housing portal immowelt.de. A record influx of refugees in 2015 has not helped, experts say.

Some 85 percent of Berliners rent their homes rather than owning them. Proposals to help them had ranged from expropriating large property owners to speeding up affordable housing projects.

The cap means “protection against rent increases for 1.5 million apartments,” tweeted the Berlin government’s department for urban development and housing.

Under the plan, landlords who seek to raise rates because of renovation work will also have to seek official approval for any increases above 50 cents per square meter.

Only social housing and private property that has not been let out would be exempt.

The move is being closely watched across Germany, where a backlash is growing over fears that residents are being priced out of key cities.

German Chancellor Merkel has voiced skepticism about such caps, warning that “we must also provide an environment for people to want to build.”

“It must remain advantageous and attractive to invest in residential property.”

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【绅士化】shìshēnhuà gentrification the process of repairing and rebuilding homes and businesses in a deteriorating area accompanied by an influx of middle-class or affluent people and that often results in the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents

【征用】zhēngyòng expropriate take possession of, especially for public use

为了阻止愈演愈烈的城市绅士化趋势，德国首都柏林市政府刚刚决定从2020年起五年内柏林房租停涨。

柏林曾被描述为”虽然穷但是性

感”，后来因受到强劲就业市场的吸引，人们纷纷搬到柏林工作，导致柏林的房租在过去十年间涨了一倍。

房租猛增导致一些居民开始考虑激进的措施，包括呼吁从大业主手中夺走房产。

这一趋势令柏林市政府感到不安，于是上周二政府通过了一项纲要草案，其中包括从2020年起五年内房租暂时停止上涨，目前正在起草法案。

1990年德国统一后，几十年来首都柏林一直以廉价房租吸引着艺术家、音乐家和学生。柏林房租比其他欧洲大城市都要便宜得多，一部分是由于过去数十年东德的经济一直附庸于西德的遗留影响。

根据房产门户网站immowelt.de的一项研究，在过去十年间，每年约有4万人移居到柏林，自2008年以来房租已经涨了一倍多。专家表示，2015年涌入的大量难民进一步推高了房租。

约85%的柏林人没有自己的住房，都是租房住。为了帮助解决柏林人的住房问题有各种提议，从征用大业主的房产到加速经济适用房的建设。柏林政府城市发展与住房部发推文称，限制令意味着“针对150万套公寓房租上涨实行的保护措施”。

根据这一草案，由于翻修房屋而计划涨房租的房东在每平米涨价超过50分的情况下必须获得官方批准。

只有社会保障房和没有出租的私人房产可以不受该草案限制。

整个德国都在密切关注这一举动，因为各大城市的居民都在担心会租不起房，抵制情绪也越来越强烈。

德国总理默克尔则对限制令表示怀疑，她警告说：”我们也必须营造一个有利于建房的环境。”

“住宅地产投资仍需保持优势和吸引力。”

(Chinadaily.com.cn)