The City Council met: Can Leipzig’s mayor campaign in Berlin for tenancy laws that actually protect tenants? + Video

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More and more households in Leipzig are struggling not only to find an affordable flat, but also – once they have one – to pay their rent. This is made clear even by the 2025 Citizens’ Survey, in which the issue of rent and housing was overwhelmingly identified as the number one problem facing Leipzig’s residents. Fifty-one per cent of Leipzig residents surveyed ranked housing as the top concern.

What can be done when even the current rent cap is simply ignored and circumvented by many landlords? Dax prompted the Left Party faction to table a motion, which was debated in the City Council on 1 July.

Enrico Stange, a city councillor for Die Linke, took the opportunity to present a further set of figures. After all, the fact that Leipzig’s housing market has become so tight is also down to the fact that far too few new flats are being built, whilst the city continues to grow.

And for some time now, those eligible for social housing have been competing directly with ordinary Leipzig residents for far too few flats with capped rents.

Over 2,000 of these would need to be built in Leipzig every year. But in recent years, only around 1,000 have been completed each year. And the number of completions is continuing to fall, Stange noted.

This is particularly noticeable to those eligible for social housing, who are then told by the Jobcentre that their flat is too expensive and that they should negotiate a rent reduction with their landlord. A suggestion that is downright out of touch with reality, as the motion tabled by the Left Party also points out:

“These dramatic developments are also linked to an aspect that is, unfortunately, almost never covered by the media’s attention economy – the housing cost gap. The number of households in which there is a gap between the recognised housing allowance and the costs actually owed to the landlord for rent and service charges, including heating costs, is growing steadily.

Whilst in 2022, out of the 30,550 benefit groups recorded by the Jobcentre, 3,536 had a housing cost gap, this figure rose to 4,135 by 2025. The size of the housing cost gap is immense: on average, the benefit households recorded by the Jobcentre paid an additional 132.20 euros per month in 2025.

Those affected have to cover this shortfall from their living allowances – that is, from their standard allowance. Money that is then lacking, for example, for winter-proof shoes, necessary repairs or simply food.”

Tenancy law riddled with loopholes

And on top of that, there are the many landlords who do not even respect the existing rules designed to curb rent increases. The Left Party parliamentary group is now collecting cases via its ‘rent profiteering’ app. And in Leipzig, there have long been well over 6,000 substantiated cases of suspected rent profiteering.

Only the legislature in Berlin can put a stop to this by tightening up tenancy law in this area. That was the crux of the Left Party’s motion, on which Enrico Stange spoke. “The City Council requests the Lord Mayor, in his capacity and in his prominent role as President of the German Association of Cities, 1. to advocate, vis-à-vis the Federal Government, the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat, for a revision of tenancy law – in particular regarding the rent cap – with the aim of closing so-called loopholes or exceptions. 2. to advocate to the Federal Government, the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat that notices of termination for personal use under tenancy law be subject to stricter conditions and controls. The aim is to prevent spurious notices of termination for personal use.”

The Mayor agrees

A proposal that met with a positive response from Leipzig’s city administration. This is because they, too, have noted the increasingly dire situation on the housing market. The Lord Mayor himself proposed the following wording for the mandate in his administrative statement:

“The Lord Mayor is requested to advocate for improved tenant protection at federal level as well, in particular with the aim of reducing loopholes and exemptions in the rent cap scheme and introducing stricter conditions and controls for terminations on the grounds of personal use.”

In his explanatory statement, he also addressed another issue that is becoming an increasing problem in Leipzig: “Data from the Municipal Citizens’ Survey shows that notices of termination issued by landlords (for personal use, or to make way for development) are on the rise. In 2021, 1.6 per cent of residents cited this as the reason for moving; by 2024, the figure had risen to 4.2 per cent.

It is not known whether these are genuine or spurious ‘own use’ terminations. Among those registered with the social services office as house-hunters, the number of people whose search for accommodation is due to termination notices issued by landlords on the grounds of personal use has also risen significantly – from 7 in 2019 to 79 in 2025.

Against this backdrop, calls to tighten the obligation to provide reasons and evidence for evictions on the grounds of personal use seem reasonable. From the tenants’ point of view, extending the notice period to allow more time to find alternative accommodation would also provide some relief.”

Current tenancy law is clearly insufficient to protect tenants’ rights. The administration’s position also met with the approval of Enrico Stange, who, however, would have liked to see the amendment tabled by the Free Faction adopted as well, which primarily concerned reporting deadlines.

The vote then made it clear which political groups actually take tenants’ growing concerns seriously, and which – such as the CDU and AfD groups – tend to represent the interests of landlords.

The result of the vote reflected this: the administration’s position received a clear majority, with 35 votes in favour and 20 against. Even if it is merely a mandate for the Mayor to take action – who is now expected to make representations, particularly in Berlin, to campaign for a revision of tenancy law.