Geywitz wants to regulate the municipal right of first refusal

Berlin Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz wants to regulate the municipal right of first refusal for house and property sales. “It is important to me that the cities have the opportunity to influence their own urban development,” said the social democrat to the Handelsblatt. That is why they are working on a legally secure solution for the municipal right of first refusal. The state is able to act “when it has a certain potential to do something to counter profit maximization”.

So far, if plots of land or houses were sold in a milieu protection area, local authorities could take action themselves. This should prevent tenants from being pushed out by rent increases or conversion into condominiums. But last November, the Federal Administrative Court largely overturned this practice of first refusal, which is common in large cities in particular.