Berlin's likely Left-Green-SPD coalition plans to socialise about 160,000 flats from large landlords

The Left (Die Linke), which won Berlin's state election on 20 September 2026 with 25.7 percent, agreed with the Greens and SPD on 17 October to recommend formal coalition talks. Their exploratory paper would transfer to public ownership the flats that private landlords hold in Berlin above a base of 10,000 each, about 160,000 homes, at the earliest in 2029. Compensation would be capped at 16 billion euros, and average rents could not rise after the transfer. Cooperatives and flats built since 2021 are excluded. The Greens and SPD vote on 19 October, the Left on 31 October.

The legal basis is Article 15 of Germany's Basic Law, which allows socialisation against compensation and has never been used. The paper pairs a size threshold with a capped payout. Investors in regulated housing markets will watch whether the capped payout survives the courts, and how private building responds while a law is drafted for introduction in mid-2028.