Overview
- Federal Building Minister Verena Hubertz said she will move against rent gouging by tightening rules for furnished lettings and index-linked rents, with an experts’ commission tasked to propose limits.
- Berlin extended its Mietpreisbremse to the end of 2029 and prolonged the conversion ban on turning rentals into condos until 2030, with a city Mietpreisprüfstelle available for suspected overcharges.
- The Berlin Senate will deploy twelve trainee government inspectors from early 2026 to intensify checks, following an October case that forced a Friedrichshain landlord to pay nearly €50,000 for excessive rent.
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern renewed the rental brake in Rostock and Greifswald through September 30, 2028 and set an ordinance in motion to apply the tool to eight coastal tourist towns, expected to take effect in spring 2026.
- Hubertz backed a Fehlbelegungsabgabe for higher-income tenants remaining in social housing and highlighted about €50 billion in federal–state investment through 2029 to rebuild the public housing stock.