Berlin SPD's Krach proposes 100 rent police and dares Left on expropriation

Rent police and higher fines

Krach, the Berlin SPD's lead candidate and state chairman, told Die Zeit that 100 "rent police" would be deployed to manually enforce compliance until the rent register (Mietenkataster) is operational. Berlin's state parliament approved the creation of the register in early July, making Berlin the first federal state to establish such a database. The register is intended to uncover unlawful rent levels and make violations of tenancy law harder to commit. Berlin faces a housing shortage, with rents having risen noticeably in recent years. Some landlords demand more than legally permitted, which often goes unnoticed for long periods.

For the transition, until the rent register is in place, we will deploy 100 rent police officers to manually take action against violations.

Krach warned landlords with illegal rental contracts to adjust them quickly, saying that from January the penalties would become substantially more painful.

From January there will be high fines. I am in favour of raising these to 100,000 euros.

Provocation aimed at the Left

Krach posted a photo on X of himself holding a cardboard sign in front of the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. The sign read: "Here we can expropriate, dear Left! Are you in?" The post was a response to the federal chair of Die Linke, Ines Schwerdtner, who made the socialization of housing a condition for her party's participation in a Berlin government. Schwerdtner delivered her demand on the "5-Minuten-Talk" podcast of the magazine Stern.

This is quite clear for us: with the Berlin Left in government, there will be socialization.

Krach accused Die Linke of running a populist opposition cult with expropriation slogans. He remained demonstratively open to a coalition with the party.

Broader programme and coalition signals

In the Die Zeit interview, conducted aboard a campaign bus, Krach staged himself as the Berlin SPD's hope while openly criticising his own federal government. He attacked the cuts to housing benefits, pensions, care, and social benefits as a social policy blind spot, and called instead for stronger tenant protections and higher taxes on top earners. He argued the SPD should save itself through municipal ground-level work rather than capital-city spin. For Berlin, he outlined a programme combining the rent register, rent police, democracy education in schools, better protection for the capital, and an Expo-style vision. He described the East-West inequality in doctors and transport as a breeding ground for frustration, AfD successes, and democratic erosion.

Krach also directed criticism at the CDU, accusing the party of wanting to make families pay through cuts to school meals, transit tickets, and daycare. He remained open to a coalition with either Die Linke or the CDU, but delivered sharp parting shots to both sides. The SPD is currently polling at 13 percent in Berlin. Krach is trying to pull the party out of that low with justice rhetoric, a dose of law-and-order, and the message that Berlin must stop pretending provinciality is a governing programme, even on issues as small as e-scooters.