Berliners strip in protest at city’s sky-high rents independent.ie/world-news/eu … 89240.html
The movement is sending shock waves through the normally orderly world of Berlin estate agents: when they show off apartments for rent, their presumed tenants strip off and prance around wearing nothing but Mickey Mouse masks to hide their identities.
The protesters, who paint their naked bodies with slogans such as “too expensive” and “rip off”, pose as ordinary would-be tenants and queue up to “view” expensive apartments to let.
Once inside they strip off and dance around to blaring music pumped through loudspeakers while being filmed. In most cases they manage to flee before the police arrive. A video of their protest usually appears on YouTube the following day.
“We want every estate agent and every apartment management company to be aware that if they try to rent out flats at rip-off prices, they can expect a visit from us,” one of the protesters, who would only identify himself as Denis, declared on one of the videos.
The rent rise protest is conducted by a group called Hedonistic International which recently gained publicity after its members stormed a neo-Nazi pub. Their demonstrations have so far been confined to the Berlin inner-city districts of Kreuzberg and Freidrichshain. Both districts are being gentrified after providing cheap flats for immigrants and students for more than two decades.
[snip]
Although the rent for a very well appointed apartment in one of the capital’s more fashionable inner-city districts can occasionally reach up to €1,000 a month, the current average for a two bedroom flat in these areas is €640 a month.
“Berlin’s tenants are spoiled,” argues David Eberhart of the accommodation group which controls 40 per cent of the city’s rented homes.
He points out that compared to the comparatively wealthy city of Munich, where tenants spend an average of 17.6 per cent of their income on rent, in Berlin the average is only 12.3 per cent.
more
During the past two years, average rents in Berlin have risen each year by only 4 cents/sqm/month. For an apartment without rent control, the average monthly rent in Berlin is now €4.83/sqm without heating and utilities. Very small apartments of less than 40 sqm had an above-average rent development of 5.3% to €5.41/sqm per month. These conclusions were drawn from the new, qualified rent index for 2009 which has been accepted by all six lessor and tenant associations for the first time since the year 2000. Apartments in houses built between 1973 and 1983 in western districts and new buildings constructed since 1991 are also above the average. Rents in the latter buildings rose by 1.5%, from an average of €6.58 to €6.68 per month. For the first time, the rent index also takes the energy efficiency of buildings into account.
The rent table for 2009 is here in German (page 16) -> stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/w … el2009.pdf
Larry
October 21, 2010, 8:55pm
#3
From the piece:
Although the rent for a very well appointed apartment in one of the capital’s more fashionable inner-city districts can occasionally reach up to €1,000 a month, the current average for a two bedroom flat in these areas is €640 a month.
€640 is a little above rent allowance level for Dublin. What a fucking joke this country is.
Not only are Berlin rents cheap compared to our own but, given their low property prices, the yields on offer can be well in excess of 10%.
I’m quite sure Dublin can justify its c4% yields based upon it being a true economic powerhouse.
No, a couple with one child or a single person with one child (i.e. someone looking for a 2-bed) is actually entitled to €930 under our glorious rent allowance scheme.
Any chance of this “taking off” here?
