Merz blocks expropriation
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday, “There will be no expropriations in Germany,” as he pointed to a federal law meant to prevent Die Linke’s plan to transfer around 220,000 apartments into public hands. Elif Eralp, the Die Linke candidate who won Berlin’s election with 25.7% of the votes, replied, “I have always said that if Die Linke enters the government, there will be socialization.” Merz argued that a Berlin decision would not be limited to the capital and would affect Germany’s confidence as an investment destination, while he said the threat of expropriation would deter private capital needed to build homes.
““I have always said that if Die Linke enters the government, there will be socialization.””
El Mundo
Die Linke intended to transfer around 220,000 apartments belonging to large real estate companies into public hands with compensation, and the plan revived a 2021 referendum that was not legally binding and was not implemented by subsequent governments. The dispute also fed into coalition math, because Die Linke lacked a parliamentary majority and needed the Greens and the SPD to bring Eralp to the Red City Hall, while the SPD candidate Steffen Krach said, “I am very sure that in the end it will not go through.”
Al JazeeraHousing numbers and costs
Investitionsbank Berlin said the median price of homes advertised for rent went from 9 euros per square meter in 2016 to 15.78 in 2025, and the data measured new offers rather than what existing tenants with previous contracts pay. Elif Eralp proposed freezing rents for public housing companies for one year and then limiting their increases, and she also called for strengthening monitoring of illegal prices and socializing, with compensation, about 220,000 homes from large private companies. Elif Eralp’s housing promise collided with Merz’s warning that the threat of expropriation would have “devastating effects” on foreign investment if implemented, and Merz said he expected swift legislation to prevent expropriations.
Left out by 11 of 12who reported it
Berlin rent adverts rose from €9 (2016) to €15.78 (2025).. Reported by El Constitucional.
The Straits Times reported that the SPD estimated the possible cost of the expropriation plan at some €20 billion, while Eralp said she stood by the policy despite questions about financing. SVonovia Chief Executive Luka Mucic told Reuters that “socialisation doesn’t create any new housing,” as he said the company was ready to discuss solutions to Berlin’s housing shortage.
DWCoalition pressure and antisemitism
Friedrich Merz broke the stunned silence at CDU headquarters in Berlin after exit polls showed the CDU’s worst result since World War II in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, with the AfD receiving 38.2% in the state and 16.3% in the capital. In Berlin, Die Linke came in first with 25.7% of the vote, and Elif Eralp pledged to make Berlin affordable again while drawing comparisons with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as she said, “in our city, love and justice have triumphed over hate.” The Straits Times said Eralp faced early pressure to take action over accusations of antisemitism in parts of the local party, and it reported that both the SPD and the Greens demanded she address those accusations.S
Elif Eralp told a news conference that ensuring Jewish people in Berlin along with Muslims and all other groups “feel safe and can lead a good life here” was her “absolute priority.” Merz also pledged action against antisemitic incidents in Berlin and called the rise in antisemitism a “disgrace for Germany,” while he said it had caused concern to European partners.