Leftist leader pushing to lead Berlin says city has voted for change

The far-left leader pushing to take over as mayor of Berlin promised on Monday to tackle unaffordable rents in the German capital, but faced early pressure to take action over accusations of antisemitism in parts of the local party. Elif Eralp led the Left Party to their best result in Berlin where they displaced Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative party in the mayor’s office and look set to head a coalition governing the city for the first time. “Berlin has clearly voted in favour of a change in policy, for an affordable Berlin where everyone can live with dignity, regardless of income or background, and for the rent crisis to be tackled consistently at long last,” she said on Monday.

PLAN TARGETS CORPORATE LANDLORDS Famously described by former mayor Klaus Wowereit as “poor but sexy”, Berlin has become increasingly expensive and its once famously cheap rents are now a thing of the past. Eralp has pledged to expropriate more than 200,000 housing units from corporate landlords in a campaign which saw the party, whose roots lie in the former East German communist party, make gains in central and western areas of the city as well as its traditional strongholds in the east. “I still stand by that,” she said on Monday, despite questions about how to finance a move the centre-left Social Democrats estimated would cost some €20 billion. She said she aimed to reduce the influence of corporate landlords such as Deutsche Wohnen and Vonovia. Vonovia Chief Executive Luka Mucic said the group was ready to discuss solutions to Berlin’s housing shortage but that “socialisation doesn’t create any new housing”. Merz, who said the policy would have “devastating effects” on foreign investment if it were ever implemented, said he expected swift legislation to prevent expropriations.…