The Private Rental Sector in Germany - Stefan Kofner - Bog

After the collapse of all kinds of real estate bubbles in the wake of the global financial crisis the private rental sector has been rediscovered by researchers and housing policy in many countries. Following the bursting of various mortgage bubbles everyone seems to be aware now of the disadvantages of an extremely high rate of homeownership. Conversely, the benefits of a diversified and flexible private rental sector are increasingly recognized. In this discussion the German private rental sector can serve as a model, not least because of its sheer relative size. Apart from that, the German private rental sector provides very different groups of tenants with very different housing qualities and provides for long term security of tenure. The basic question is: Can private renting be an alternative to living in their own home for broad layers of the population? Against this background, an outline is given on the current German housing system, the structure of the housing market and policies and reforms that have shaped the private rental sector (rent setting, dismissal protection, taxation, subsidies, housing allowances). A critical perspective on the matter is taken, barriers to a well-functioning housing market and private rental sector are identified and proposals for reform are presented.