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Far-left party wins Berlin election, pledging to nationalise housing

72 points · 152 comments · theanonymousone

soonnow · 1789971698 · focus · HN ↗
To add a b it of context. They do not want to confiscate housing. They do want to pay landlords, though below current (very high) rates. Also this would only apply to private real-estate companies not individual owners.
And they can't govern alone, so I think it's unlikely that this plan is actually implemented as originally planned. The likely coalition would contain 3 parties.
1. dirasieb · 1789972590 · focus · HN ↗
  >it's not confiscation, you're just forced to sell at a price i decide is fair
  sound logic
  1. 4gotunameagain · 1789972887 · focus · HN ↗
    The "free market" (which has been demonstrated to not be free at all) has no place in basic needs such as housing.
    Rent extraction is utterly counterproductive for a society.
    Housing should not be a commodity.
    WithinReason · 1789973154 · focus · HN ↗
    Who builds the houses then?
    mschuster91 · 1789973417 · focus · HN ↗
    Governments directly, cooperatives or non-profit organizations. The Churches used to be pretty active in that space as well to invest tithes, with rents paying for common-welfare projects.
    IshKebab · 1789973685 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeay communism! They built such lovely tower blocks.
    vrganj · 1789974451 · focus · HN ↗
    Yeah like that ugly drab city of ... Vienna??
    <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/10/the-social-housing-secret-how-vienna-became-the-worlds-most-livable-city" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/jan/10/the-soc...
    WithinReason · 1789982131 · focus · HN ↗
    That's more like social housing:
    > an income maximum for applicants of €57,600
    and can't be bought, only rented
    mschuster91 · 1789985001 · focus · HN ↗
    first of all, Europeans don't need American wages. 57k is comfortable middle class in Austria, especially if you have government subsidised housing.
    as for the "only rented" part, again, at this level of low rent it does not matter. you're better off renting. And Europeans have actual pension systems, we are nowhere near as reliant on real estate always appreciating in value.
    ImPleadThe5th · 1789973677 · focus · HN ↗
    Who builds all those bridges, roads, power plants, and other public works projects? Maybe them?
    Also government formed co-ops. Find people who want a flat and agree on rent before you build it. As the loan is paid off rent becomes substantially cheaper. The second best time to plant a tree is today.
    It also doesn't need to be the entire housing stock, just enough to help keep rent low (see Vienna).

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