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When I signed the lease for my apartment in Berlin, I popped the cork on a bottle of champagne, then told everyone I knew that if I were to ever leave this flat, it would be in a hearse.
I am proud to be a life-long renter, like 85 per cent of Berlin’s residents, and I can’t imagine moving elsewhere either, even as purchase prices drop.
The lease I signed in Berlin is unbefristet, or on unlimited terms: I can remain in my home for as long as I like, without worrying about rising rents or evictions, which are strictly regulated and subject to intense scrutiny by renter unions.
But others — especially new arrivals — are not so fortunate. The asking rent for apartments on the market is up by more than 11 per cent in the past year, according to property portal ImmoScout24; for newly built homes, it’s up 20 per cent, a record increase.
“The rental market is a catastrophe,” says Graham Pugh of BerlinRelo, which helps renters find long-term leases. The problem is, these contracts are an endangered species: many flats are offered only as sublets, which offer scant protection to renters, and the price can be higher than the original rate. Now, even the city’s stock of longer-term sublets is running dry.
According to ImmoScout24, the most popular properties in the country are about 60 sq m flats that cost around €590 a month, utilities not included. That might sound like a steal — but there’s a catch: try getting your hands on one. Competition is intense. In Cologne or Hamburg, an apartment like this can expect to receive an average of just under 200 applications in a day. In Berlin, the number is closer to 640.
Making it out of a landlord’s inbox and into a flat viewing is the first hurdle, which is where almost every applicant fails. Slush piles build up quickly, and many ads are taken down within minutes of going live due to the volume of applications.
The competition for flats is particularly heated in January, according to a recent report from ImmoScout24, which includes a nationwide survey of landlords’ priorities. Looking to bolster your chances? Couple up: couples are the most desired tenants, followed by single renters, and then families, single parents and students. Referrals from residents can also come in handy, according to the survey. Berliners know this well: my German tutor gave me a month of free lessons in exchange for my agent’s email address.
Other renters have had to get even more creative. One friend says he found an ad online but didn’t fancy his chances at a cold-call application, so he guessed the agent’s email address and reached out directly. Within minutes, the agent called him, confused but with an offer to view the apartment before anyone else.
Another showed up to viewings in a crisp power suit while her partner followed behind, pretending to be her executive assistant. Every agent they met dutifully earmarked her application, and she was buying moving boxes within weeks.
Such tactics seem desperate. But in a market where powerlessness feels like the default, renters are clinging to any hope they can find.
Part of this powerlessness is that in a market such as Berlin’s, there always seems to be someone with the upper hand: exchange students are passed over for start-up staffers, who lose out to locals with close-knit connections. For those cold-contacting landlords, the process might seem frustratingly arbitrary, but Pugh says industry insiders claim it’s anything but.
“Lawyer? Architect? Journalist? Government employee? [They’re] out,” he reports. “They know the rules [around renting] too well and are too likely to complain.”
The mental burden of house hunting is compounded by the increasingly uncomfortable or dangerous living conditions many renters are forced to endure, with broken windows, faulty ovens and rat infestations going unattended. In recent years, I’ve also noticed a sharp increase in requests on local online forums for advice on how to live with ex-partners. These are compromises no one wants to make. But where else can they turn?
The result is a city where lives are put on pause. People I know are putting off big-picture plans, such as starting a family. They fear they’ll face ever greater difficulties if they go back on the market. I’m struck by how lonely it all feels: we’re losing hope in the city we share. Is it that hard to believe that flat hunting could get better? As the housing crisis continues, I fear the answer grows clearer.
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