ABSTRACT
The provision of affordable housing is considered to be the responsibility of the German government and public authorities. German affordable housing policy is traditionally based on a twofold approach: demand side and supply side support. This chapter discusses traditional demand and supply side instruments of housing policy and focuses on new approaches to support and regulate affordable housing in Germany. As for pricing theory, rent control is a price cap that is a large intervention in the formation of rental prices on housing markets. Before, there were regulations in German tenancy law established in the 1960s and 1970s for the adjustment of rents in existent rental contracts. The chapter discusses new trends and innovations in German housing policy, their results, and effects. The four new instruments are rent control, a climate component, special subsidy programmes, and 'concept procurement'.
