“A blanket ban is certainly not possible,” Hubig told Handelsblatt. A law regulating the socialization of housing stock would also not be a simple undertaking. “There are experts who doubt that such a thing can even be regulated in a constitutionally compliant manner,” the minister said. “I don’t consider it completely ruled out,” she added with regard to more specific regulations.
Friedrich Merz (CDU) announced in early July that the planned reforms would include a law prohibiting federal states from expropriating housing companies. The background is the black-red coalition’s concern about the implementation of the 2021 Berlin referendum, in which a majority voted for the socialization of large housing stocks. The Left Party, which leads polls for the state parliament election in September, wants to implement such an expropriation.
Hubig pointed to the tension between Article 15 of the Basic Law, which generally permits socialization, and Article 14, which strongly protects property. “That is a difficult area of tension,” she said. Since there has been no application case for Article 15 so far, there is also a lack of reliable case law. “That will be one of the cliffs that must be navigated.”
Hubig was cautious about the Berlin housing debate and referred to the SPD’s top candidate Steffen Krach, who is focusing on stronger regulation and strong tenancy law. “That is also my approach,” the minister said.
Source: www.zeit.de
