Key facts
- Berlin's Left party, advocating for property expropriation, holds a narrow lead in polls ahead of Sunday's election.
- The Left party's plan targets real estate companies owning over 3,000 apartments.
- A 2021 referendum indicated widespread support for expropriation, with estimates suggesting up to 220,000 apartments could be bought.
- The Greens fully support the expropriation plans, while the SPD opposes them.
- Legal experts are divided on the constitutional feasibility of expropriation and the federal government's ability to block it.
Berlin's upcoming Sunday election is dominated by a radical proposal from leftist parties to seize apartment buildings from major real estate companies as a solution to the city's housing crisis and rising rents. The Left party, which traces its history to East Germany's communist party, is leading in polls and aims to form a coalition with other left-wing parties to implement the plan.
Elif Eralp, the Left party's lead candidate, stated that if elected mayor, she would "pull out all the stops to make Berlin affordable again and lower rents." The party's proposal targets companies owning more than 3,000 apartments. A 2021 referendum showed nearly 60% of Berlin voters supported expropriating properties from large real estate firms, and an organization that initiated that referendum estimates up to 220,000 apartments could be bought for up to 60% of their market value, totaling €18 billion.
The Greens, polling in fourth place, fully support the expropriation plans and aim to push them through in coalition with the Left party. However, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), polling fifth, opposes expropriation and favors other rent-lowering measures. The SPD's lead candidate, Steffen Krach, faces scrutiny due to accusations of accepting illicit campaign donations.
Conservative parties, including Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), are staunchly against the plan. CDU's Berlin lead candidate, Stefan Evers, warned that the debate is already harming the city's real estate market by deterring investment and potentially preventing new apartment construction, which would drive up rents. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), polling strongly in third place, also opposes the plan, labeling it "new socialism."
Implementing the expropriation policy would face significant hurdles. While an expert commission found it legally feasible under Article 15 of Germany's constitution, which allows for land and means of production to be transferred to common ownership, this provision has never been applied. Legal experts are divided on its constitutionality, and it would likely face a challenge in the constitutional court. Furthermore, Merz's government has indicated it would seek to block such state-level actions with a national law, though the legal basis for this is also debated.