Housing crisis: Podcast “Expensive Living”: About tax havens and legal loopholes

How can it be that a newly renovated rental apartment in Berlin is demolished and a luxury apartment is built instead, even though there is a lack of affordable living space? Reporter and presenter Charlotte Thielmann gets to the bottom of phenomena like this in the seven-part podcast “Expensive Living”. In months of research from Berlin to Cyprus, she and reporter Rabea Schloz show what is going wrong in Germany and how it could be done better. It uncovers tax havens and legal loopholes. Thielemann does not look for anyone to blame, but rather illuminates all sides and, if possible, allows everyone involved to have their say. The end result is a very complex picture of an industry that can only be changed slowly.

In the first episode “Everyone has to go out,” Thielmann looks around Berlin-Charlottenburg and finds a spot not far from the Ku’damm on the corner of Wielandstrasse and Pestalozzistrasse where the wrecking ball has struck. The house from the 50s was bought by the project developer and property developer “Diamona & Harnisch”, who are planning an elegant new building. Architect Dominik Krohm explains in episode 1 why old buildings are often torn down. Not only the condition of the building is crucial, but also the use of the floor space. Old buildings stand “fragmentarily in the urban space”; they are not completely adjacent to the neighboring house, which is why part of the floor space would not be used. That’s why it’s being demolished.

Thielmann approaches the topic step by step, looks for laws that are intended to protect living space and finds loopholes in the law. For example, Thielmann is talking to Arne Herz (CDU), District Councilor for Citizen Services and Social Affairs in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, about the “misappropriation law” (episode 5), which prohibits the demolition of apartments. The fact that demolition is possible despite the ban is also due to the uninterrupted use of the land. Using Wieland/Pestalozzistrasse as an example, eleven additional apartments will be added as a result of the new use: previously there were 19 apartments, now there are 30 apartments. The gain not only created replacement living space, but also increased the number of apartments. Thielmann tries to understand how “appropriate replacement living space” is defined. The answer: What constitutes appropriate replacement housing depends on the free market economy; a specific threshold has not been set. Ultimately, housing policy protects “stones, not people,” says Arne Herz.

Thanks to the music of Volker Bertelmann alias Hauschka, “Expensive Living” is a true economic crime thriller that increasingly focuses on the almost insoluble conflict of maintaining affordable housing. Thielmann delves deeper and deeper into the thicket of laws that enable gentrification and talks to tenants, prospective buyers and apartment owners about their motives. Thanks to the editorial work of Diane Arapovic and Steen Lorenzen (both RBB Radio Eins) as well as Stephan Ziegert (detektor.fm), Thielmann does not lose sight of the fate of the tenants.

The presenter talks to those who lost their homes and why they ultimately moved out more or less voluntarily (episode 6). “Diamona & Harnisch” is not resigning (the reasons are explained in the podcast); instead, the company is relying on a so-called “socially acceptable solution” with variable severance payments. The earlier you move out, the higher the severance payment. The more people move out, the higher the average income of the house is, which means that there is no longer any need to protect this living space (keyword: “milieu protection area”). Those who are still in their old apartment are under pressure: if they are kicked out by the new owners, they will have to bear the costs of the construction delay and still have to move out. Just without severance pay.

In the end, “Teurer Wohnen” looks for solutions and looks around Vienna and Ulm. The city of Ulm has been buying up properties and monitoring the laws for 130 years. But the view into a less bleak future for tenants is also questioned: Is there a solution to the real housing drama? The complex but easy-to-understand podcast “Expensive Living” shows how closely economic and tax policy are intertwined and why personal fates fall by the wayside.

“Teurer Wohnen”, available on all common podcast platforms and in the ARD audio library.