Left-wing parties demand longer rent freeze in Dresden and Leipzig

According to the Left Party, residential tenants in Dresden and Leipzig should continue to be protected from disproportionate rent increases. "The rent freeze must be extended beyond 2025, as the housing markets in both Dresden and Leipzig are under pressure. Rents are rising and there is far too little affordable housing," Juliane Nagel, member of the state parliament, told the German Press Agency. These developments are slowly but surely also being seen in the areas surrounding the two major cities.

An increasing proportion of income is being spent on rent

"We need effective instruments to limit the upward spiral of rents. Wage development has long since been decoupled from the immense jumps in rents," emphasized the MP, who is also a city councillor in Leipzig. People in Saxony are having to spend ever larger portions of their income on rent, and in no other Saxon city have rents risen as immensely in recent years as in Leipzig - more than 55 percent in the past ten years.

Leftists want a more effective rent freeze

According to Nagel, the rent freeze should not only be extended, but also strengthened. "Because with the many existing exemptions, it is a tiger with big gaps in its teeth." Exceptions need to be removed, and effective sanctions are also needed, for example in the form of high fines and state control bodies. This is the responsibility of the federal government. "Another effective instrument would be a nationwide rent cap, which would be used in areas with a tight housing market and which would define rent caps, for example."

Left-wing parties submit motion to extend the rent cap in Dresden

The left-wing parties in Dresden city council have submitted a motion to extend the rent cap in the state capital. According to the motion, the city council should instruct Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert to lobby the Saxon government accordingly. It has been in force in Saxony since the summer of 2022. The state ordinance defines the cities of Dresden and Leipzig as areas with a tight housing market.

"Affordable housing is one of the key social issues of our time. The city and state must fulfill their social responsibility and ensure that affordable housing is available for all tenants," explained Dresden Left Party leader André Schollbach. The undesirable developments on the housing market with significantly rising rents must be stopped.

A federal amendment to tenancy law in force since July 2015 created the possibility of limiting the permissible rent level in areas with tight housing markets. The state governments had to determine these areas in ordinances. When a tenancy agreement is concluded, the rent may then exceed the local comparative rent by a maximum of 10 percent.