Bremen extends rent control until 2029 to fight soaring housing costs
Germany's Constitutional Court Rejects Landlord's Challenge to Rent Cap
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court has dismissed a complaint from a Berlin landlady against the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake), a measure capping rent increases for relet properties in tight housing markets. For Bremen's Senator Özlem Ünsal, the ruling is clear: the policy is compatible with Germany's Basic Law. The opposition, however, sees it differently.
In November 2025, Bremen extended its rent control ordinance through the end of 2029. Under the rules, rents for relet apartments in the city-state may not exceed the local reference rent by more than 10%. A recent expert report confirms that the housing market remains strained: Bremen's population is growing, vacancy rates are low, and rents are rising faster than the national average. "The rent brake doesn't solve every problem—but it concretely prevents rents from skyrocketing when tenants change," Ünsal stated. "The fact that the Federal Constitutional Court has now clearly upheld this in Karlsruhe is an important signal."
"Ideological Pseudosolutions"
Thore Schäck, chair and housing policy spokesperson for Bremen's Free Democratic Party (FDP) faction, counters that the court in Karlsruhe did not even admit the constitutional complaint for a ruling—meaning there is no judgment substantively endorsing the rent brake. "The rent brake is not the answer to rising rents and housing shortages because it only manages scarcity without creating a single new home," Schäck argued. "The real problem in Bremen is supply—too little new construction, too slow a pace, too many obstacles. What we need now is a 'construction turbo': fewer regulations and faster permits. Ideologically driven pseudosolutions like rent freezes, rent brakes, or social housing quotas are actually roadblocks—and they need to go."
Two Sides of the Same Responsibility
A key question remains: Why does the rent brake apply only to older apartments? Senator Ünsal explains: "For me, both go hand in hand—protecting tenants and building new housing. That's why new constructions and comprehensively modernized apartments are exempt from the rent brake. Those who build and invest should be able to continue doing so. Affordability and new construction aren't opposites; they're two sides of the same responsibility."
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