Illegal holiday apartments in Berlin: Senate urgently has to act!
Illegal holiday apartments in Berlin: Senate urgently has to act!
Berlin, Deutschland - In Berlin, the situation remains tense on the housing market and in the area of holiday apartments. Despite the legal regulations for the misuse of living space that have been in effect since May 2014, combating illegal holiday apartments is still a major challenge. Urban development senator Christian Gaebler (SPD) recently announced that a European software solution should be introduced in spring 2026. This will prescribe platform operators to provide their offer data digitally, which will enable the supervisory authorities to query the offers online. Until the implementation of this solution, however, the districts are faced with the tedious task of identifying and pursuing illegal holiday apartments independently.
Since the law on the misuse came into force, around 4,500 registration numbers for holiday apartments have been awarded by the district offices, but the actual number of holiday apartments could increase to over 38,000, as the . According to Gaebler, the number of unreported cases is difficult to name, but he expresses the assessment that there was no massive increase in illegal apartments.
approval process and criticism
Despite the legal provisions, the overview of the apartments in Berlin remains poor. After the expiry of a transition period in 2016, only 4,785 applications were made for renting holiday apartments, of which only 600 were approved. The Mitte district was most active, followed by Pankow and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, where only 464 and 114 applications were approved. This data throws a light on the insufficient implementation of the law on misuse, which is also evident in the annual report of the State Audit Office 2024. Here it is again criticized that references from the population are not consistently pursued with regard to illegal apartments.
Alexander King, a member of the BSW, has also sharply criticized the implementation of the law and demands systematic persecution of the alienation of living space from the district offices. In addition to the sustainability of the measures, the State Audit Office notes that the automated evaluation of publicly accessible data has not yet been implemented by the Senate. The districts must now check which software can be used to pursue second apartments.
governments and case law
Since May 1, 2016, holiday apartments in Berlin have no longer have existing protection, unless they have an official approval. The Senate now has the option of prohibiting the misuse when hazardous to the living space supply. At the same time, the fine for violations of up to 50,000 to up to 100,000 euros was increased in order to achieve a deterrent effect. The online registration option for misused apartments has also been set up to actively involve the citizens in the surveillance.
Another measure is the fact that most apartments in Berlin are high. This leads to an imbalance in punishing violations when it comes to domestic and foreign providers. The Deutsche Ferienhausverband describes the ban as unconstitutional and criticizes the inequality between different types of living space users.
While tourism is an important economic factor for Berlin, with 6.1 million overnight stays annually in holiday apartments, the challenge of securing the living space for the Berlin population remains of central importance. By 2026, the Senate is planning the construction of 80,000 new apartments, but it remains to be seen whether these measures can really relieve the more tense housing market in the capital.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Berlin, Deutschland |
| Quellen | |