Berlin rally calls for affordable rents and more public housing

Around 11,000 people took to the streets of Berlin-Mitte for a demonstration demanding affordable rents, according to the organizers. The march, held under the slogan “Homes for All, Lower Rents,” drew people of all ages, including families with children.

The organizers had registered the event for 20,000 participants. Police did not give their own estimate. About two weeks before Berlin’s election, demonstrators marched from the Red Town Hall along Unter den Linden, Friedrichstraße and Leipziger Straße before returning to the starting point.

Their placards included slogans such as “Your rents are astronomical,” “Expropriate the expropriators” and “Hands off our homes.” The Alliance Against Displacement and Rent Madness called for housing for everyone, the socialization of large property companies, a rent cap, an end to termination notices for personal use and forced evictions, as well as municipal, environmentally friendly construction.

Kim Meyer of the alliance said a newly built private apartment in Berlin costs an average of 20 euros per square meter. “Only the top five percent of the population can still afford that,” Meyer said. The alliance also argued that extremely high rents in new construction would raise the rent index over the long term.

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Only the top five percent of the population can still afford that.