Germany’s Chancellor Merz says bill to block Berlin housing takeover is ready
The chancellor says compensation remains unresolved at 80% or 100% of market value, as Berlin parties discuss transferring large housing companies to public ownership.
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on 3 November that a federal bill intended to prevent Berlin from transferring large private housing companies into public ownership was finished, although he said one compensation question remained open.
Speaking at a Berlin Chamber of Industry and Commerce event, the Christian Democratic leader said the question was whether compensation would be 80% or 100% of market value. He said his side favored full market value; neither alternative is a settled term.
The dispute follows a 2021 Berlin referendum in which a majority backed the expropriation of large housing companies. Berlin’s House of Representatives passed a framework law in March 2026 that enables such a transfer in principle.
Berlin parties discuss housing transfers
An exploratory paper by the Left Party, the Greens and the Social Democratic Party proposes expropriating private housing companies that hold at least 10,000 apartments in Berlin, with compensation. The Left Party came first in September’s Berlin state election and is holding coalition talks with the other two parties, DW said. The proposal remains part of those talks, rather than an agreed government policy.
The Left Party argues that offering the transferred apartments at lower rents under state ownership would also reduce rents across Berlin. Merz predicted that expropriation would damage the business environment and affect capital markets in London, Paris and New York, without creating jobs or housing.
Justice minister questions a general ban
Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig, a Social Democrat, has questioned whether a general prohibition is legally possible. In a July 24 report, audimax.de relayed her statement to Handelsblatt that a general ban could not be implemented, but did not rule out a legal framework governing transfers to public ownership.
Hubig said experts questioned whether a framework for transfers to public ownership could be constitutional, although she did not rule it out. She said socialization under Article 15 had never been applied, so there was no case law on it.
Hubig pointed to a tension in Germany’s Basic Law: Article 15 permits the transfer of land, natural resources and means of production to public ownership in principle, while Article 14 strongly protects property rights. The Berlin parties' coalition talks continue.
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