Speaking at a meeting on “High Rents and the Rent Problem in Berlin” organised by the Women’s Council of the Alevi Community of Berlin (BAT) – Cemevi, Social Democratic Party (SPD) MP Sevim Aydın said: “Berlin has a serious rent problem. High rents can only be tackled by building new homes.”
Opening the meeting at the Cemevi (Alevi house of worship), Mukaddes Dede-Aslan, Chair of the BAT-Cemevi Women’s Council, said: “One of the most pressing problems in Berlin is rent. Eighty per cent of the city’s residents are tenants. Berliners expect the incoming government to find an urgent solution to the rent problem.”
Speaking at the meeting, which was chaired by journalist Ali Varlı, MP Sevim Aydın said: “The Social Democrats in Berlin are very determined to solve the rent problem. The solution lies in building new homes and enforcing existing laws. A rent control office was opened on the SPD’s initiative. Funding was allocated to the districts to recruit staff to monitor high rents.” Tenants attending the meeting complained that landlords charged high rents, failed to remedy defects in their homes and behaved with indifference.
Aydın, a candidate for the Kreuzberg 1 constituency, also urged all those entitled to vote to make sure they cast their ballot in the elections on 20 September.
