Tierschutzpartei on housing

The Tierschutzpartei regards housing as a basic right and calls for a rent cap covering all of Germany. Rent gouging should be consistently prosecuted. In the long run, no one should spend more than a third of their net pay on rent.

The party wants a limit on rents in all of Germany. People who charge far too much rent should be punished. Rent should cost no more than one third of take-home pay.

The platform opposes rising rents and what it sees as excessive profits by large housing corporations owning more than 100 units. Landlords and corporations should be prosecuted under the usury provision, Section 291 of the Criminal Code. The rent cap is meant to relieve tenants and get the housing market and vacancies under control. As a long-term goal, the party names a rent burden of no more than one third of net income.

The Tierschutzpartei wants the federal government to build housing itself and bring more existing housing into public ownership. New construction would have to include a fixed share of social housing. This is meant to slow the rise in rents.

The state should build homes itself. It should also take over more existing homes. A fixed share of new homes should be social housing. These are low-cost homes for people with little money.

The federal government should not leave housing construction to private real estate corporations. The binding quota for social housing in new construction would be based on actual need. Affordable publicly owned housing would be set aside for people in need. A uniform law would govern how social housing is allocated, and eligibility would be reviewed regularly to rule out arbitrary favoritism.

The Tierschutzpartei calls for a levy on vacant properties to prevent speculation. Empty residential and commercial space could be seized for temporary use. Vacant office buildings would be converted into housing.

Many homes stand empty. The party wants owners to pay a fee for that. The state should be able to take over empty rooms for a while. Empty offices should become homes.

The platform cites estimates that 600,000 to one million housing units are vacant. Landlords would receive support when units sit empty for more than a year; housing corporations with long-term vacancies would be held more accountable. The federal government would buy empty office buildings and convert them into housing. A stronger right of first refusal would help cities and towns use vacant properties for social housing.