Berlin SPD faction chief Raed Saleh slams federal party for inaction on rent cap, calls it red line ahead of September election

Internal party criticism

Berlin SPD parliamentary group chairman Raed Saleh has escalated pressure on his own national leadership, telling the German Press Agency that the federal executive's support for a rent cap has been nothing more than lip service. He said the party must now treat the issue as a top priority and push the coalition partner CDU to unlock the legal path for states.

The federal executive has positioned itself to finally support our demand. So far, however, it only looks like a lip service.

He demanded that securing the opening clause for the rent cap become one of the SPD’s top priorities during the ongoing reform discussions at the federal level.

The demand

Saleh argued that a state-level opening clause would cost the federal government nothing yet immediately give people breathing room in all metropolitan areas. He framed the rent question as the social justice issue of the time and called on the federal SPD to declare it a red line.

The rent question is the justice question of our time. And that is why the federal SPD must declare it a red line.

He warned that the federal level's wavering was damaging the party's campaign in Berlin, where trust in the federal government is evaporating.

Political context

SPD general secretary Tim Klüssendorf had said in mid-May after internal party consultations that the party wanted to put the topic on the agenda and enable states to decide on a rent cap themselves.

We want to put the federal states in a position to decide for themselves on a rent cap.

Saleh’s public rebuke suggests disappointment with the pace of implementation. Berlin had previously introduced a rent cap, but the Federal Constitutional Court struck it down in 2021 on the grounds that state-level governments lacked the authority to enact such a measure. An opening clause at federal level would change that.

How the rent cap differs

Unlike the existing rent brake, which limits increases on new rentals, a full rent cap would freeze rents at a state-set level and prohibit any further rises. The SPD’s push for an opening clause would allow each state to introduce its own cap.

Election date looms

Berlin is set to elect a new state parliament on 20 September 2026. Saleh indicated that federal hesitation is already hurting the local campaign, saying the public’s lack of confidence in the federal government is palpable.

Right now in my campaign in Berlin I am experiencing how the federal level's dithering is hindering our campaign. People have no trust in the federal government, and we can feel that.