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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?
    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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