I wanted to do my bit to stop the rent madness
Because she is self-employed, she would not have got the flat in the trendy Berlin district of Kreuzberg without a guarantee from her father. So Helena really ought to count herself lucky with her landlord. Even so, she stood up for her rights and used rent control to cut her rent by more than 20 per cent. Why do so many other tenants still hesitate? Fear, laziness or ignorance, she thinks.
You live in Berlin's pretty Bergmannkiez – a stronghold of gentrification. How did you get hold of the flat?
eBay Kleinanzeigen. At first I searched like everyone else on WG-Gesucht, ImmoScout and the like. But at the viewings there were 30 or 40 people on site straight away. At viewings like that you have to know the estate agent, otherwise it is a pure waste of time. When I saw those crowds at the mass viewings, I turned straight round. Then a friend told me about eBay Kleinanzeigen.
So in the end it was quite easy for you to get the flat?
No, not at all. When I came to Berlin from Hamburg, I spent the first few months in sublets in different parts of Berlin and staying with friends. Then came sexy Karlshorst for six months – cheap to live in, just too far from my workplace in Kreuzberg. After a long search I was lucky to find my current flat on eBay Kleinanzeigen, and I only got it because my father was added to the tenancy agreement. Like many young newcomers.
How did you come to think that you might be able to lower your rent?
It started with me getting annoyed with the property management company. They are not very reliable and hardly respond to my emails or calls. For example, I have had problems with the heating for six months, a gas boiler that keeps cutting out. In winter, mind you. For months I fought to get a tradesperson to come and repair it. In the end a friend of mine stepped in and pumped hot water through until it worked again. But I started thinking about what could be done about it…
But at first that had nothing to do with lowering the rent...
Right, but I picked up a lot through the media and started looking into it more. Then one day there was a flyer from you in the letterbox. And as I stood there in the hallway with my neighbour next to me, we got talking about it. He had already used your website to calculate how much too much he was paying and had already reduced his rent with you.
And then you instructed us straight away?
Well, I hesitated at first because I did not want any trouble with the property management. But from my point of view the relationship with them was already bad anyway. I then looked into what could happen, read your website, wrote you an email and arranged a phone interview to discuss the situation. After that I instructed you.
Did you not think about doing it through the tenants' association or an independent lawyer instead?
Not really. It sounded as if there was nothing to lose, as if it was non-binding, so I did not even think about going another way.
How long did the process take until your rent reduction went through?
The property management did not respond at all to the first two or three letters. Only when the letter from your lawyer arrived did the first replies come.
And how much did you get out of it?
My rent was €13.70 per square metre, excluding service charges, and CONNY calculated that it should only be around €8.30. We then met in the middle at €10.80, because I did not want to get into a long court case. In the end I was able to lower my rent by a good 20% and now save €1,400 a year.
Only if more tenants use their rights can the rise in rents be slowed. Why do you think so few people do it?
Out of fear of the landlord and their own uncertainty. But a lot of people are also simply too lazy. They do not understand that a movement can only emerge if many people get behind it and actually challenge their rent. Many are also scared of being evicted through the courts and simply have no appetite for legal proceedings. Who does. Then there is also a large majority who think it does not affect them anyway. And all of that is wrong, of course – in the end only landlords profit from that attitude.
Did you expect more or less money from the rent reduction?
I went into it without any expectations. My aim was more that it spreads and that people can really make use of rent control. The €117 a month is great, of course, but even if it had only been €50 I would have done it, because I want to do my bit to stop the rent madness.