Category: 2020

Rent Freeze #2: Magic Words

Berlin’s rent freeze has begun, but nobody seems to know what’s going on. Landlords and tenants alike are confused about what to do next. Rents are now capped at the rate paid in June 2019 – all increases since then are invalid. New contracts can’t exceed about €9.80 a square meter – half as much as many advertised prices. And landlords face fines of half a million euros for cheating.

On this episode we go inside Berlin’s parliament to hear the moment the rent freeze law was passed. Supporters and opponents gave fiery speeches in a rowdy session, which ended with politicians voting to suspend the free market for rental property for five years.

We hear what landlords think about the new law. Some are devising ways to cheat – by renting to ignorant foreigners: “Those who screw their landlords are old Germans.” Despite the threat of huge fines, some don’t think the city has the resources to prosecute them.

And what should tenants do if they hope for a rent decrease? Lawyer Daniel Halmer from Wenigermieter.de says they should start adding three magic words to their rent transfers: “Zahlung unter Vorbehalt.” It means paid with reservations, and gives tenants the right to to try to claim back overpayments at a later date.

Rent Freeze is produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Artwork by Jim Avignon. Music by Tom Evans and Ducks!. Recorded by Stephan Lindner. Rent Freeze is a production of Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.

RS Live: Library Darkroom Secrets


Berlin’s favourite free coworking space also has books. We meet Juliana Pranke from the ZLB, Berlin’s central library. She tells us the secrets of the Bibliothek: You can borrow art to hang on your wall, digitize vinyl and stream films online. Why don’t you have a library card already?!

The revolutionary Mietendeckel has started. It applies to all tenants, even subletters in WGs. Find out more on our spin-off podcast Rent Freeze. The next episode is landing soon.

Berlin Mayor Michael Müller says he’ll quit before the next election. Joel reviews his political flops: the Tempelhofer Feld building plan, the Olympic Games bid and his opposition to the rent freeze.

It’s Berlinale time, but there’s another important film festival coming up: Berlin Feminist Film Week. We meet founder Karin Fornander, who says we should stop giving the Academy Awards such importance: it’s decided by a jury of mostly old white men.

In the wake of the terrible Hanau racist attack, Dan Stern gives an emotional acknowledgement that our show doesn’t do enough to reflect racial diversity, and that most Berlin expats live in a mostly white bubble. We pledge to try to expand our racial inclusivity.

Thanks to Tom Evans for sound engineering, and Comedy Cafe Berlin for hosting our show.
Hosts: Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.
Support us with a donation! https://steadyhq.com/en/radiospaetkauf

Rent Freeze #1: The Experiment


Radio Spaetkauf Presents: Rent Freeze #1: The Experiment

What happens when an entire city of 3.5 million residents stops paying rent increases for the next five years? Welcome to Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin’s rental revolution.

Berlin is about to introduce the Mietendeckel, a law that will freeze rents for five years, cap new rental contracts at a maximum price, and allow some tenants to claim a rent reduction. Supporters say it will be the best thing to happen to the city since the fall of the Wall

But investors and landlords are outraged. They say the reforms will scare off businesses, leave houses unbuilt and in disrepair, and feed a grey market for off-the-books rental as desperate Berliners try to find a flat.

On this episode we explain the basics of the law, and talk to Daniel Halmer of Wenigermiete.de about why the existing rent controls haven’t worked.

Produced and presented by Joel Dullroy, Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern. Artwork by Jim Avignon. Music by Tom Evans and Ducks!. Recorded by Stefan Lindner.
Rent Freeze is a production of Radio Spaetkauf and RadioEins.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts here.

RS Live: Everything Is Closing


Some of Berlin’s most infamous nightclubs are closing as investors cash in on their properties. Grießmühle is almost gone, and KitKatClub may be forced out by the summer. What’s different about this round of club closures? And what could the city do to save its culture?

In Berlin’s monocultural housing estates, some kids never meet people of other religions. Shalom Rollberg changes that by offering after-school activities, taught by Jewish volunteers. We meet founder Yonatan Weizman. He says the program should be expanded from Muslim to German neighbourhoods to fully tackle antisemitism. You can help out here: https://shalom-rollberg.de

Konrad Werner joins us to talk about racist street names in Berlin. Konrad is the co-host of Megan’s Megacan, a weekly show about German news: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/megans-megacan/id1406002313

Anyone else annoyed by bad English grammar on advertising? Companies spend thousands on billboard ads that seem to be computer translated. We critique the latest offensive example from a website offering AI-based flatmate matching. Hopefully their code is better than their copy.

Berlin’s rent freeze is coming, and so is our new spin-off series about this radical new housing policy. The first episode of Rent Freeze will appear in your podcast feed shortly!

Thanks to Tom Evans for sound engineering, and Comedy Cafe Berlin for hosting our show.
Hosts: Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.
Support us with a donation! https://steadyhq.com/en/radiospaetkauf