Against the backdrop of rising rents and a tense housing situation, the federal states have been given the opportunity to take measures to regulate the development of rents by means of legal ordinances. As a result, two important ordinances have been introduced: the rent cap ordinance and the rent limitation ordinance.

The state of Brandenburg made use of this option for the first time in 2014 and most recently in 2021. The current rent cap ordinance, which has been in force since 1 January 2021 and will remain in force until 31 December 2025, limits rent increases for existing tenancies in 19 municipalities to 15 % within three years. The Rent Limitation Ordinance, also known as the Rent Control, first came into force in Brandenburg in 2016 and was also last reissued in 2021 and applies to the same 19 municipalities. This ordinance also applies until 31 December 2025 and stipulates that the rent at the start of a tenancy may not exceed the local comparative rent by more than 10 %.

In 2024, the effects of the Rent Cap Ordinance and the Rent Limitation Ordinance will be re-evaluated in order to decide whether these regulations should be extended. In the event that an extension of the validity period of the ordinances is appropriate, it must be examined which municipalities will be part of the backdrop in the future. At the same time, the evaluation should serve to review the use of existing and possible further indicators for the definition of the regional backdrop. In addition, the need for and possible effects of an ordinance in accordance with Section 201a BauGB should be examined. The aim of this evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of the existing regulations and provide well-founded recommendations for the future design of these instruments.

As part of the project, in close coordination and division of labour with the project partner, I provide services in the following areas

• Selection of the method and indicators for evaluation,
• Conception, realisation and evaluation of an online survey of selected municipalities,
• Recommendation for the future design of the instruments,
• Determination of possible further indicators for the definition of a new area (if necessary).

(Note: The project descriptions modified by me and presented here have been created jointly by the respective project participants)