It's also interesting that people genuinely believe this is going to solve the problem rather than exacerbate it.
There is nothing any politician can do to change the laws of supply and demand. If this district in Berlin is in high demand, they're not going to fix the "problem" of high rents by keeping the supply fixed.
The only solution to this "problem" is to let people build additional housing to increase supply.
Instead of keeping the same people in their current units, overtime what will happen is people who currently rent apartments in this district will start to sub-let their apartments to the people who are willing to pay higher prices, acting as a wealth transfer from landlords to current tenants. And yes this will occur even if it's made "illegal" to sublet these apartments (this exact situation exists in NYC with people who have rent controlled apartments and people still do it all the time).
There is nothing any politician can do to change the laws of supply and demand. If this district in Berlin is in high demand, they're not going to fix the "problem" of high rents by keeping the supply fixed.
The only solution to this "problem" is to let people build additional housing to increase supply.
Instead of keeping the same people in their current units, overtime what will happen is people who currently rent apartments in this district will start to sub-let their apartments to the people who are willing to pay higher prices, acting as a wealth transfer from landlords to current tenants. And yes this will occur even if it's made "illegal" to sublet these apartments (this exact situation exists in NYC with people who have rent controlled apartments and people still do it all the time).