ABSTRACT
A number of important measures were introduced in the 1980s which changed the German housing system radically. The first major change came in 1983 when the government announced plans to free up rents even further, including limited dividend company rents, so that they moved closer to market rents. The second change was to encourage social landlords, including the companies, to redeem their public loans ahead of time. A significant number did this as their capital debts shrank and there was a rapid acceleration in the number of ‘free renting’ units. This seriously reduced the local authorities’ scope for nominations (Kreibich 1986). The third move was to encourage the sale of company property to raise money for repair and to stave off mounting financial problems. This had only limited success, as most social housing was in flatted blocks. The fourth move was to refuse to engage in a rescue operation for Neue Heimat, thereby facilitating an end to the special legal and financial status of housing companies. The fifth change was a shift in favour of subsidising owneroccupation, which grew significantly in the 1980s.
