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Berliners vote to expropriate large landlords in non-binding referendum

Berlin voters sent a clear message to corporate landlords in Germany: public housing matters more than corporate shareholders. A city-wide referendum to expropriate rental properties belonging to large landlords and turn them into public housing passed with 56% of the vote on 26 September. 

The referendum is non-binding, but if the government chooses to act, as it’s now being pressed to do, it could mean the city government purchasing more than 240,000 apartments for billions of euros, and turning them into socialized housing run by the city as a public entity. These units are currently owned by a handful of real estate companies in Germany and across Europe. The leader among this group is Deutsche Wohnen SE which currently owns more than 100,000 units in the city. 

If the city attempts to seize the properties, it is sure to be a lengthy - and costly - process challenged in court. But the referendum reflects the drastic measures that most Berliners are willing to take to address a housing crisis that has seen rents more than double in a decade.

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