Culture Senator and top candidate of the left, Klaus Lederer, wants to create more social housing in the capital with another housing subsidy. According to his ideas, only state-owned companies should receive money from the Senate, writes the "Berliner Morgenpost" (Wednesday). "We used to buy temporary social bonds through subsidies, from private or public builders. We should now combine the subsidy with the creation of permanent social housing," Lederer told the newspaper a good three weeks before the repeat elections on February 12.

Inexpensive living space for a broad section of the population is offered in Berlin by public housing associations, cooperatives and other "providers geared towards the common good". "Anyone who wants affordable housing must strengthen these players and enable them to build under increasingly difficult conditions," said Lederer.

"If we were to convert our previous housing subsidies into a direct injection of equity for the state-owned housing companies, we could mobilize one billion euros annually and invest them in the development of the public stock," says Lederer. According to his calculations, 75,000 new, permanently socially bound apartments could be built in ten years.

In order to get the serious housing shortage in the capital under control, significantly more has to be built every year than is currently the case. The goal of the coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the Left is an average of 20,000 apartments, last year around 16,500 were completed according to information from December. The lack of social housing is considered to be particularly problematic. 5000 of them would have to be added every year to keep the current stock.

Interview Berliner Morgenpost - behind payment barrier